


Personalities Within

by VillainousShakespeare



Category: British Actor RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Loki (Marvel), Dom Loki (Marvel), Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Multiple Personalities, Oral Sex, Quick Burn, RPF, Romance, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Sexual Content, Shakespeare Quotations, Smut, Tom Has Issues, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-06-23 21:12:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19709545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VillainousShakespeare/pseuds/VillainousShakespeare
Summary: Tom had been so careful for so long. He didn't get involved in relationships, and if he did he only let them go on for so long before ending them. It was the only way to be safe. The only way that HE wouldn't come out. And while HE, among others, might make Tom a great actor, the dangers were to great.But what happens when Tom falls for someone. Someone who not only is his perfect type, but the other's perfect type as well? Can he pursue a relationship with her while keeping his secret and protecting her? Or will the unthinkable happen?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I have conflicting feelings about fics based on actors rather than characters, but this idea has been insistently rolling about my brain for weeks now, so I figured the only way to properly excise it was to share it with all of you! My plan is to keep this relatively short, but we all know how that goes... sigh. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated!
> 
> Kisses!

He should not be doing this his brain shouted as he pressed her body up against the wall of the alley with his own. He had spent the better part of ten years avoiding just this sort of situation. But she felt so good in his arms. So soft and warm and willing. No, more than willing, she was eagerly, enthusiastically kissing him back for all she was worth. Pushing the alarm bells going off to the back of his consciousness, Tom surrendered to the embrace and deepened the kiss, reaching down to skim one hand over her hip and down her thigh before catching beneath her knee and lifting it up to wrap around him. Her hands around his neck gripped harder, one reaching to tangle in his curls as he ground himself into her. Gods, she felt so good. He had wanted her for so long, months now. Wanted this. Wanted feel her surrender to him as he claimed her body for his own. Wanted to rule her.

The alarm bells sounded louder and he pulled back from her lips, forcing his body to still, although he still held her leg hitched up around him. That last thought. That had been too close to the line he could not cross. Gods, what was he doing? He knew better than this!

"Tom?" she asked, eyes confused and lust filled as she looked at him uncertainly. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"No, darling," he answered, trying to regain his composure. "No, nothing is wrong. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"Didn't mean to what?" she laughed, face turning a bit red. 

"Didn't mean to... take advantage," he finished lamely.

"Take advantage?" she echoed in disbelief. "Tom, I've been waiting, _hoping_ you'd take advantage forever! I don't know how much more obviously I could have thrown myself at you."

It was almost true. He had noticed her right away, the very first day of rehearsal. It was a luxury, that rehearsal time, and one not usually given on major film productions. The fact that it was a prestige picture, and Shakespeare, had allowed them the added time. Their director, being a famed Shakespearean star himself, had the foresight to demand it. It had been a dream for him, playing Benedick in a film adaptation of Much Ado. So few directors were interested in letting him do comedy, it was a joy to get to play in one of his favorite of the Bard's lighter pieces. It would have been perfect if his Beatrice wasn't better suited to play the Shrew. She was a famous American movie star, and the thought was that she would lend the movie some additional box office power. The fact that she had no classical training and the personality of a wet mop hadn't seemed to sour the studio on her. His director told him to "use it" to spur his performance, but sometimes it was like playing to the tennis ball they had used to indicate the ape in Kong. In fact, he would be willing to bet the tennis ball had greater range than Mimi. God, even her name was egocentric!

That first day he had popped into the makeup trailer - they were doing screen tests to get looks right during brakes in the day - mostly just to say hello to the staff and make himself agreeable to the people who would be responsible in large part for making him look presentable for the duration of the shoot. Mimi had been sitting at one chair, flipping through an US Weekly, and there in the other sat another girl he didn't recognize. He assumed from her young, pretty appearance she must be playing Hero, the ingenue lead. She was chatting animatedly (or as much so as she could do whilst getting her makeup done) with the makeup artists. Tom had said hello, smiling his cheerful smile at each of them. He had worked with the makeup team before, he was pleased to say, and knew that Daniella shared his fondness for sweets. 

"I don't suppose any of you happens to have a chocolate you'd be willing to share by any chance?" he had asked hopefully, knowing she often kept a box of them in one of her cupboards.

"You think I would allow myself to eat bonbons?" Mimi had scoffed instantly, shooting him a withering look. "Some of us take care of our bodies, Thomas."

He hated being called Thomas. Only two people ever did so - his mother when he was in trouble, and _the_ _other_ _one_... when he was in worse trouble. Being called so now by this cypher of an actress made his teeth clench. Just as he was framing a retort, however, Charlotte, the sweet looking girl in the other chair pulled a chocolate bar out of her large bag and held it up.

"I only have one," she said regretfully, "but I'd be more than happy to split it with you, if you'd like."

Her smile was wide and genuine, and sent a little butterfly feeling into his stomach. Tom gave a her a smile of his own and tried to demur. He didn't want to deprive her. She just laughed and broke the bar in two, giving him half.

"So shines a good deed in a weary world," he proclaimed, hand over heart, after a pause unable to resist adding, "Anyone?"

"Willy Wonka?" Daniella guessed, raising a pierced eyebrow at him.

"True enough," Tom nodded, "though not where it originated. Still, I'd never turn my nose up at good old Gene Wilder. My own personal hair icon. Any other guesses? Ladies?"

"I would say Portia, Merchant of Venice, Act 5 Scene 1," Charlotte said, a twinkle in her eye, "but that would be if you had said 'So shines a good deed in a _naughty_ world.' I wouldn't feel too bad if I were you. It's a common enough mistake."

Silence had filled the trailer. Tom, dumbstruck, went through the lines in his head and realized he couldn't remember if she was right or not. From the look on her face, however, he would be willing to bet money she was. Daniella, aware of his competitive nature and love of games, was grinning at him like an idiot. Mimi, he was unsurprised to see, just looked bored. Charlotte, though, was starting to appear anxious. Suddenly, Tom understood. He was a big star on this production, she a stage actress making her film debut in a studio production. If he took offence at her getting the better of him, her career could be over before it had even had a chance to begin. Flashing his most lethal smile, he had mimed being stabbed through the heart and fallen to the ground at her feet.

"A hit!" he declared, still laughing. "A very palpable hit!"

The friendship had progressed from there. How could it be anything other than delightful, he often thought, when it had started with chocolate and Shakespeare? Surely that was how all the best things began. They were constantly quizzing each other, coming up with obscure quotes from lesser done plays to try and stump the other over coffee breaks or between practice sessions. She had remarkable facility with the language and in the few scenes where her character was given something to do besides sigh and look shyly in love she more than impressed him with her acting ability. It was all much more than he could say for Mimi. Day after day he found himself wishing that Charlotte had been cast in the lead role. It was half way through production when he discovered he was not the only one who harbored those wishes.

Tom had been looking for her, actually, though he would have denied it. In those days he was still trying to convince himself that he saw her only as a friend. A little sister even, if you wanted to make more of the relationship than there strictly was. But she shared his love of Shakespeare and was able to be silly or serious as the situation called for. The morning's shoot had been difficult due to Mimi's lack of anything resembling the empathy called for in the scene. He felt the need of a bracing chat to get him through the afternoon. He had found Charlotte in a props room venting frustration he had never for a moment seen in her.

"Oh, gracious father!" she simpered, curtsying and fluttering her eyelids. "To they wisdom humbly I subscribe! I have not a thought in my silly little head. ARGHHH! Hero you mindless little twit!"

Tom, leaning lazily against the door way, began to applaud slowly, a grin spreading across his face. Charlotte shrieked as she saw him and covered her mouth with her hands.

"I'm not normally a big one for ad libbing the Bard," he smirked, enjoying her embarrassment a bit too much, "but I must say I think you should talk to Ken about adding in that bit!"

"Tom, what are you doing here?" she groaned, face flushing a bright crimson.

"Oh, nothing," he grinned. "Just enjoying the play."

"I am so, so very sorry!" she began babbling. "Please don't say anything. I am thrilled to be playing this role! Really, I am!"

"Really?" he teased, imitating her.

"Really and truly!" she insisted, missing his smile. "This is the biggest opportunity I've ever been given. Hero is a great role, and I am lucky beyond my wildest dreams to be acting it in this production!"

"But...?" he prompted. "Come on, Char, you can be honest with me."

"But I've played it four times already," she finally admitted. "The last time opposite a Claudio half my age. Before that I played Miranda twice, Bianca three times... I would just for once like to play something other than the sweet young thing. I"m almost six years older than Mimi for the god’s sake, at least using the age she admits to!"

Tom looked at her in some surprise. She was indeed very youthful looking with big blue eyes and a sweet, innocent look about her. She was short and curvy instead of tall and statuesque, and her voice tended to sound like a clear, resonating bell when she spoke. He, along with apparently everyone else, had just assumed she was as young as her looks suggested. One of the excuses he had been using, in fact, about why he didn't need to keep his distance from her was that she was too young to be of serious interest to him. Now, if his math was correct (always a big if, he had to admit) it seemed she was actually a year _older_ than him! Perfectly acceptable for him to romance. If he was anybody else. If it had been safe for him to romance anyone.

From there things had only gotten worse. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. She was luminous when she acted, imbuing her character with such a warmth and brightness that she stole away all of the female scenes from an envious Mimi. Tom found excuses to go to the set when she was working, even if he were not called. He loved simply being around her and the energy she brought to the script, even in a simpler role. The smile that tugged at his lips would grow bigger and bigger as the scene went on, and he would fantasize about playing Claudio, of all things, just so that he could be opposite her. The worst had come when they had been working a crossword one afternoon between shots, heads bent over Times as she insisted on filling in the boxes in pen, much to his horror. He had been chiding her for a wrong spelling (a weakness he loved to point out) when a loud sound of exasperation had punctured their little bubble.

"If Benedick would kindly stop trying to get into Hero's pants and come find his mark," Ken had pronounced in aggrieved tones, "maybe we could move on sometime before dawn. Really, you two. Do us a favor and just go at it already so we can all work."

After that he was more careful. If a harried director was noticing the sparks flying between them, he needed to dampen them and quickly. He made excuses during breaks and ate offset with his publicist. He hated it, especially seeing the disappointed look in her eyes, but it was safer in the long run. He couldn't risk getting too close. She was too perfect. Just the kind of girl he liked. Just the kind of girl _he_ liked as well. And Tom would not let _him_ anywhere near her. He swore it to himself.

Until tonight he had been as good as his word. He had still been friendly with Charlotte, how could he not be? But he had held himself at a bit of a distance. His visits to the set on off days had stopped, and his schedule had gotten suddenly busy any time he was not needed for a scene. But tonight was the wrap party. There had been alcohol. Lots of alcohol. Toasts had been drunk, and it would have seemed churlish to not join in. Shots had been bought for the cast by a happy director, and again he did not want to seem ungrateful, so he drank. He should have known better. He did know better. But for those few hours, he didn't want to care. Especially when people started dancing. It was his big weakness. He couldn't stay seated when the music started. He had to be out on the floor making an absolute idiot of himself. It was central to who he was as a person. It was also a very good excuse to end up closer than he had ever let himself get to her. It was just dancing. _He_ didn't dance, Tom told himself, so it should be safe. And it felt so damn good. Holding her in his arms, swaying with her to the music, moving together, hand ghosting low on her back as he pressed her against his body, hoping and not hoping at the same time that she wouldn't notice how tight his pants had become as he moved her around the floor.

He wasn't sure what sequence of steps had led them outside and into the alley. One minute they had been dancing, sticky with sweat and breathless, and the next they were slipping through a door and walking just a few steps hand in hand before he turned and pressed her against the wall, crushing his lips to hers in the kiss he had been dreaming about every night in bed and fantasizing about every morning in the shower. She wanted him. She was saying it. Showing him in her willingness to let him paw at her like an animal. And he wanted her with a desperation that he was finding harder and harder to deny.

"Char," he moaned, tracing her face with his hand. He wished he were more sober, was glad he was not at the same time. "If we do this. If I take you home with me... it can only be tonight. Okay?"

"Oh," she said, looking momentarily hurt. He hated himself in that instant. Hated that he could bring that look to her face, when all he wanted was to make her smile. "Okay," she nodded after a moment.

"No, I mean it," he repeated, confusing her, he was sure, considering how he was simultaneously grinding against her between her legs. "I like you... I like you so much. I like you too much. But I can't... I just can't have a girlfriend. Understand?"

"Tom, it's okay," she assured him, head tilting back as gave in to the temptation to nibble a path down her neck. "I swear, it's okay. Anything is okay, as long as you take me home tonight."

"Oh gods," he groaned, wondering if he was going to be able to wait until they got all the way back to the hotel across the street to have her. "I promise, I will give you the night of your life."

"Let me grab my stuff," she gasped, attempting to pull her leg from his iron-fast grip.

"Leave it," he said, fearing if he let her out of his sight one of them would be beset by common sense and call the whole thing off. "We can text someone to grab it for you. I want you in my room, on your back, naked. Now."

The noise she made snapped the last of his sanity, and he set her leg down and all but dragged her across the street to the hotel they were staying in. He would have her. Just this one night he would let himself give in to temptation and indulge in a woman who set his blood on fire. After all, he had not seen _him_ for some time now. Maybe _he_ was gone. Maybe it was safe.

They managed to keep their hands off each other as they entered the hotel lobby, not wanting to give any lurking paparazzi material for a scandal. The thirty seconds waiting for the elevator were the longest of his life. As soon as the doors closed behind them he was all over her again, crowding into her space and raining kisses down on her face, her neck, any skin he could find. Her own hands splayed out his back and her mouth sought his in equal desperation. One of his large hands dipped down to push between her legs and he throbbed at the wet heat he could feel through her knickers.

"Oh lord, Char," he moaned, humping her leg as he ran his hand over the thin layer of satin keeping her from him, "you're so fucking wet!"

She made a whimpering sound and pressed down onto his hand, hard. He wanted to rip the offending underwear off so that he could sink his fingers into her heat, but at that moment the elevator dinged and they arrived at his floor. Eyes feverish with desire he pulled her out and down the hall, fumbling for his key card like a nervous teenager about to experience his first time. It almost felt like that. It had been ages since he had wanted a woman so desperately.

He kissed her into the room and closed the door behind them with his foot, hearing it slam loudly. As soon as he had hit the light switch with a flailing hand, he reached down and in one fluid motion pulled her dress off over her head, her arms raising to help him. The cobalt blue bra and pantie set she was wearing displayed her body to perfection. The lace and satin cups pushed her ample breasts up and begged for his attention, while the bikini bottoms left just enough to the imagination to be enticing. Tom groaned and buried his head in her cleavage, kissing and licking with abandon while she leaned back to give him access. The number of times his mind had strayed to the curves he was now embracing... and none of his imaginings had been even close as good as the real thing.

"On the bed," he ordered, voice rough, as he pulled away from her with a force of will. "Now."

Eyes huge, Charlotte obeyed his command, sitting on the bed and scooting backwards, so she was leaning back on her elbows, knees bent up.

"Gods, you are a vision," he breathed, pulling his blue jumper off over his head and basking in how her eyes raked over his naked torso. "I'm going to do the most filthy things to you."

"Yes please," she breathed, with a small laugh, biting her lower lip.

"Be a good girl and open your legs for me," he grinned, stalking towards the bed like a predator as he undid and removed his belt with a snap. "I want to see you."

Char made a mewling sound, and to his delight blushed a bit, but she allowed her knees to drift apart. He climbed onto the bed and ran a hand up either leg, luxuriating in the smoothness of her skin. His mouth followed hands, placing kisses and licks on her flesh, some light and teasing some hard sucks of skin designed to leave a mark. She was deliciously vocal in her reaction to him, and drove him even more crazy. When he reached the apex of her legs, he gave a long, wet lick with the flat of his tongue over the satin of her knickers, causing her to moan and press up towards him. Grunting in satisfaction, he grabbed the material in his teeth and pulled, before releasing it and hearing it snap back down onto her skin. He reached down ripped the thin band apart, tossing them off the bed randomly.

"I liked the color," he remarked, looking at her slightly shocked expression with a grin, "but what's underneath is so much prettier."

With that, he dove in. She tasted divine, sweet and tangy and so feminine. He gave her no quarter, holding her down with one giant hand while the other joined his tongue in working her into a frenzy. She was thrashing above him, not even trying to be quiet anymore, and it made him feel like a king, a _god_ as he sucked and fucked her with his mouth and fingers. When she came on his tongue he savored the moment, refusing to let up as he drove her through every last ounce of feeling coursing through her body.

"Now that," he grinned, licking his lips and working up her body, "was delicious."

"Oh, god, Tom!" she sighed, a shiver running through her entire body. "That was amazing."

"I'm only getting started," he promised, kissing her as his experienced fingers made short work of her bra. "I promised you the night of your life, after all."

"Then take off your pants, pretty boy," she teased, reaching down to undo the clasp of his jeans, "and let's see if all the rumors are true."

"Rumors?" he questioned, briefly distracted.

"Oh, come on Tom!" she laughed, unzipping him and sliding her hand into his pants. "You know exactly how tight the pants you wear are! You don't think they have any secrets, do you? Oh my, my! If anything the rumors weren't generous enough!"

Tom groaned as her hand found his cock and clasped around it to tug gently. As fast as he could manage his jeans joined the pile of clothes littering the floor. She ran her hand teasingly over him, making him spasm and moan. He didn't think he could take much more. Still, he had to be sure.

"Char," he managed to say as she continued to work his shaft, "you're sure? Sure you want this?"

"Good god, Hiddleston, if you don't fuck me I swear I will tie you down and have my way with you!"

"Tempting as that sounds," he murmured, lining himself up with her entrance, "I have to admit, I rather prefer being in control."

With that, he buried himself in her sweet pussy, joining her in a long, drawn out moan as they finally merged together. She was everything he had hoped - tight, wet, velvety soft... heaven. After giving her a moment to adjust to his size, he began moving within her, reveling in how her walls seemed to draw him deeper in. Her back arched and her fingers found his hair, pulling slightly as he rode her. Lifting one of her legs and then the other, he folded them upwards until she was bent almost in half to allow him to penetrate her deeper. Her ass was lifting off the bed in rhythm with him, meeting him thrust for thrust. There was none of the awkwardness that sometimes happened with first encounters; everything was completely in tune with each other.

"Oh dear god, I want to fuck you forever," he growled, slamming into her hard.

She moaned in response, beyond speech, making him redouble his efforts. 

"That's right, darling," he coaxed her, realizing she was reaching another climax, "cum for me. Let me feel you cum on my cock."

"Tom," she moaned, edging closer.

"Yes," he panted, loving how she looked, head thrown back, eyes closed, mouth opened in entreaty. "Come on. Say my name."

_Say my name_

"Tom," she keened again.

"Again. Say it."

_Say my name_

"Tooooooom," she screamed, coming apart around him. 

He rode her through her orgasm, giving her scant time to rest before pulling out of her just long enough to flip her onto her stomach, pulling her up so that she was kneeling on the bed, before sinking back into her from behind. As he lost himself in a punishing pace, he pressed her cheek to the mattress and pulled her hands up behind her back, holding her immobile as he took her hard and fast. Her screams of pleasure drove him on, coupled with the loud slap of flesh on flesh that filled the room as their bodies collided. His muscles tightened and his rhythm began to falter, so he reached down and found her clit with his dexterous fingers, rubbing her in time with his cock. It seemed he timed it perfectly, as she screamed out just as he released he cum as deep as possible inside her. His teeth were sunk into her neck, he realized. He should feel bad about that, but he didn't. He didn’t feel bad about anything. 

"Good lord," Charlotte sighed as he rolled to the side, taking her with him.

"Have a rest, pet," he told her. "The night isn't over yet."

"You get bossy when you fuck," Charlotte laughed softly. "I hate to admit it, but I kind of like it."

"Of course you do," he cooed, stroking her hair. "You were made to be ruled."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens! Hope you enjoy. I promise I will not abandon my other fics for this one, but this just wants to be written! (I have my own characters inside my head shouting at me!)
> 
> As always, love any and all feedback, and love all of you!

_He had been so close. So very close to breaking free. There had been moments, and not a few, when the veil had frayed and it was his voice that spoke, his hands that caressed her smooth, soft skin. It had been a long time since such a thing had happened, and it had awakened his hunger._

_The girl was magnificent. He would give his jailor this, he did have excellent taste in women most of the time. Of course, it helped that the fool seemed to have his choice of the females of this realm. And why was that? Not through any virtue of the sentimental idiot, but because he himself sometimes shone through the mortal's eyes. Before he had come along, his host had been as nothing. Invisible almost to the wider world._

_It was the lust for the woman that had brought him to the surface. That part of his own nature had bled over into his captor. The urge to command, to rule, to subdue those he desired. He had unthinkingly imbued the other with this trait. It was useful. It gave him a link to the surface when the world was not shouting his name._

_"You're not going anywhere," a cultured voice spoke from behind him. He turned to see a well dressed man, every hair in place, standing there with hands crossed over his chest. "I won't let you hurt him or any other woman again."_

_"What business is it of yours, human servant?" he snarled, impatient with the man's overactive chivalry and penchant for sticking his nose in where it didn't belong._

_"When you see someone about to hurt others, and you can do something to stop him, you just do it," the other man explained, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyone would."_

_"You could never stop me," he scoffed._

_"Oh, let him have his fun if he can break fee," a youth with a wild tousle of blond hair spoke from where he sat off to the side. "Everyone hurts each other in the end anyway. Why stand in his way?"_

_"Exactly!" he smiled at the boy, a showing of his teeth._

_"Why would help him?" the interfering man asked, puzzled._

_"I'm bored," the boy shrugged. "And maybe if he does manage to get out, he'll take pity on the rest of us from time to time and let us have a go of it."_

_"Listen to your children, people," he said with false sincerity. As if he would let any of them share his existence! "They will show you the way to greatness."_

_He just had to bide his time, he decided. Though his jailor had sworn that his dalliance with the girl was a one time thing, surely he wouldn't hold his resolve. Not when she had been so sweet and willing. The urge to have her would return, a weakness that he could exploit. Then, when the man's guard was down, he could take over. He would have it all. Life, freedom, and the woman. Most definitely the woman._

Tom's head was pounding when he came to the next morning in an otherwise empty bed. For a minute he thought the whole night with Char had all be in his head - dancing with her, kissing her with a dizzying ferocity that left him weak, sharing what he was confident had been the most passionate night of his life. It was only when he saw the clothes, his and hers, scattered across the floor that he was able to confirm that it had, indeed, happened. God, she had been perfect. So responsive, so eager. It would have been the perfect night were it not for his fear.

If not for those few moments, blurry as they were, when _he_ had threatened to break through. At the end of their first go round, when he had her bent over, hands immobilized behind her back while he plowed as deeply into her core as he could get, the need to dominate her had been overwhelming. He had felt _him_ then. Fear had flared up in him as he came down from his post climactic high, and it was only through falling into a sleep that he had kept the other at bay.

As she tottered back in from the bathroom, still half asleep, he closed his eyes most of the way to feign sleep. He wasn't ready to face reality yet. He didn't want to have to have the conversation. The one where he reiterated that last night could never happen again. That as much as he cared for her, and as good as it had been, and gods, it had been good! he was not able to be with her. The thought of looking at her lovely face as he spoke those words caused a hollow feeling within him that he was desperate to push away for as long as possible.

Still, he couldn't resist leaving his eyes open a crack, just so he could look at her. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair twisted every which way in corkscrew curls, looking more like a lion's main than human hair. Her body was soft and curved in all the right places, pale skin sporting dark bruises from his hands and mouth the night before. He had not been gentle in their first coupling last night. He had taken her, claiming her as his own if only for one night.

When they woke again some time later, he had taken her again. Slowly, gently, with exquisite tenderness. He had sprinkled kisses over her face and neck, whispering to her how special she was. How lovely, brilliant, with a light that shone through in everything she did. He had worshiped her with his body, treating her as a goddess as he brought her to a sweet, aching climax beneath him. It was something  _he_ would never understand, he told himself. Something that was his alone.

As she climbed back into bed, Charlotte snuggled into him, her back pressing against his chest. As her rounded ass fit against his groin, he felt his cock spring instantly to life, nudging into her. His arm moved of its own volition to encircle her and pull her body more snuggly to him, big hand moving by instinct to palm her breast. She let out a small sigh and wiggled slightly against him, causing him to begin stroking himself against her. As she breathed out little mewling sounds, his hand drifted down and pressed between her legs to slide along her wet center. He loved how easily she opened up for him, thighs parting to give him greater access to her. With deft surety he slipped two fingers up inside her, curling them to better pleasure her. He knew she must be sore from their efforts last night, but she still pulled him in, wet enough for him that she didn't seem to mind the intrusion. As he slid a third finger up into her, he began rubbing her clit with his thumb, working in time to own pressure against her rear.

"Tom," she moaned, leaning her head back towards him.

Slowly pulling his fingers out, he brought them to her mouth and pressed against her lips. After a moment's hesitation she sucked them in, tasting herself on his skin as she pulled at them. Sensing what he was after, Charlotte slower turned over so she was facing him and moved downward, taking the blanket with her. When she had reached an even level with his waist, she looked up at him gave him a slow, sensual, Cheshire cat grin. He almost came on the spot from the sensuality of that look. Smile slide to a grin as his cock bobbed in response to her, she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to the tip of his head, tongue peaking out to lap up the pearl of precum. Tom growled and rolled over onto his back, raising his head up on a pillow, arms behind it, so he could watch.

Eyes glued to his, Char teasingly kissed a trail down his shaft and licked her way back up. When she had reached the top, she took just his head into her small mouth and sucked on him, hard, swirling her tongue over him. As he hissed in a breath, bucking up a bit, she smiled around him took him deep into her mouth, her hand grasping around the lower part of him she couldn't quite fit. She began working her lips over him, sucking as she went, hand moving along with her. The nails of her other fingers scraped lightly back and forth over his midriff, sending little sparks down to his sex. After a bit she moved it lower to cup and gently squeeze his balls, all the while taking progressively more of him into her eager mouth.

After a particularly deep slurp, Tom groaned and pulled himself free of her, panting a bit as he did so.

"Any more of that," he told her, staring at her with hot eyes, "and you'll have me cumming. Not that that wouldn't be lovely, but I am dying to be back in your tight, wet pussy."

Charlotte smiled shyly and, following his nonverbal direction, moved up to straddle him, cunt sliding back and forth over his throbbing cock. She was positively dripping on him, he was delighted to see. Apparently her servicing of him had been as much of a turn on for her as it had been for him. Reaching out the grasp her hips with one hand, he lined himself up with her and held there for a moment. Controlling her now with both hands, he slid her down his length with painstaking slowness, making her feel every inch of him take up room inside her. When he had reached his hilt, he held her down, not letting her move, simply enjoying the way it felt to be sheathed in his entirety within her walls.

"Tom," she whined, when he still would not let her move.

"Char," he copied her tone, grinning at her.

"I need to move!"

"Not until I allow it," he told her, eyes flashing.

"What?" she squeaked.

"For the next while, you will do nothing unless I tell you to," he explained, staring straight into her eyes. "You will not move, not speak, not touch, not cum until I give you permission. Is that clear? Answer me."

"Yes," she breathed, a whimper in her voice.

"Is this okay?" he asked, in a flash of insecurity.

"Yes," she repeated, voice thrumming with desire this time.

"Good. You may move. Ride me."

Hands returned to behind his head as she began bouncing up and down on his rigid cock. her pace was hard and fast, body rocking forward as she took him in to rub herself against his coarse hairs. She was gorgeous. He wanted more.

"Touch yourself," he ordered, huskily. "Give me a show."

Shyly at first, but growing in confidence as his eyes devoured her, Charlotte began playing with her body. Her hands cupped her breasts from below, fingers rolling her nipples and then pulling them until they were hard and distended. She brought one hand up to her rosebud lips and licked her fingers suggestively, before reaching down to circle over her clit in time with her bouncing. Her eyes closed as she got farther and farther gone, but Tom was having none of it.

"Did I say you could close your eyes?" he snapped, causing her eyes to pop open. "Look at me. Look at me while you take your pleasure from my hard cock."

She flushed, but held his gaze. His eyes raked over her body and his lust rose to a fever pitch. His hands reached out to grip her hips and drive her to a faster rhythm.

"You like this, don't you?" he asked. "Like being commanded by me?"

"Yes," she moaned, hands running through her hair.

"Like putting on a wanton show for me?"

"Yes, Tom."

"You weren't made to play the sweet little innocent parts they put you in. You were made to play the whore. My whore. That's what you want. That's what you were made for."

"Oh god yes!"

"Say it!"

"I was made to be your whore," she panted, struggling to hold off her impending orgasm.

"That's right, don't you dare cum until I let you."

She whimpered, but bit her lip in concentration to keep her climax at bay.

"You are magnificent, pet," he purred to her, thrusting hard, "glorious. I will give you everything you want, all you need do is surrender to me. Can you do that?"

She was beyond words now, moans and gasps serving for speech as he rammed deeper and deeper within her.

"It is your natural state. You serve me so well. I will make you a consort fit for a God. Now cum for me, pet. Cum with me."

With a few last thrust he let loose a flood of sticky white deep inside her, feeling her shatter around him as he did so. She kept riding him, milking the seed from his cock as she cried out her orgasm, arms coming down to circle his neck as she clung to him. He hadn't told her she could do that, but he would forgive her this once. She had been so good, so obedient until that point. She would learn. Learn how to serve him. And he would be as good as his word. He would reward her above all other mortals on earth.

After all, she had been the key to his freedom. The smile that spread over his lean, high cheek-boned face was tinged with mania. For the first time in over a year, he was out!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki has come out to play. Is Earth (or Charlotte) ready for this?

“Well, I guess I should get going?” Charlotte said tentatively, sitting up looking away from him.

”Hmm,” Loki ran one finger down her spine, smiling slightly. “Now why would you want to do that when there are still so many ways we have yet to amuse ourselves? I could stay right here in these rooms for days, weeks even. I fail to see your rush. Did you not enjoy yourself just now pet?”

”Well, yes,” she said, blushing. “It’s just... you said...”

”What did I say?” He asked, watching her confusion play across her face.

“That this could only be a one time thing,” she whispered, not meeting his eye. “Tom, please don’t worry. I won’t say anything to anyone. I know what a private person you are, and I respect that. I mean, nothing’s changed. We’re friends, right?”

”Is that what you want, Charlotte?” He asked, rising and standing naked next to the bed, using his height and his impressively re-hardening cock to intimidating effect. “To be my ‘friend’? I don’t think it really is.”

”Tom, please don’t make this harder for me,” she said, eyes suddenly welling up with tears. “You know how I feel about you. I've certainly been obvious enough, and you’re hardly stupid. Look, I knew what I was getting myself into last night, and I will never regret what happened. You were honest with me, and I appreciate that. You’re the most stand up guy I know. Don’t ruin it all now by being a dick and playing games with me. It’s unworthy of you.”

Loki took a step back, legitimately thrown by her outburst. He had forgotten what a boy scout Thomas could be. Leave it to him to do the “honorable” thing and crush the girl’s hopes from the beginning, even if it pained her, in a misguided attempt to protect her. Well, fortunately for the lovely Charlotte, Loki was in charge now. She was trading up. Still, he would have to be careful. He needed time to consolidate his hold, both on Thomas’ body, and on his material possessions. Including his woman. Loki’s woman now. After this morning he had marked her, and she would not so easily be satisfied by a mere mortal lover.As distasteful as it was though, he would have to act the part of Hiddleston for a while. Putting on his most fatuous smile, he batted his long lashes at the girl. 

“Will you at least allow me to buy you breakfast?” He asked. “As a gentleman, it’s the least I can do.”

”Okay,” she agreed after a moment’s hesitation. “But let me run down the hall to my room and change. That way no one will think anything of it if they see us together. It will just look like two colleagues having a goodbye meal.”

He had rather been thinking of breakfast in bed, and all the sticky morning condiments he could drizzle on and lick off of her, but his masquerade required him to smile and agree to her suggestion like the whipped cur Thomas was. 

“Great,” she said, pulling her dress on over her head. At least Thomas had been man enough to disable her underthings, Loki noted as she looked at then discarded the torn lace. “I’ll meet you down in the lobby in ten minutes.”

As soon as she had left the room, Loki's smile dissolved into a grimace. He wandered into the bathing chamber and splashed some cold water on his face, wishing he had his full powers so that he could simply spell himself fresh and clean. They would return in time, he was sure, but for now he was working without magic. Looking into the mirror as he dried off, he winced at the reflection that peered back at him. The eyes were far too blue, to begin with. Loki's own green were much more piercing and unique. And he didn't even want to think about the mop of ginger curls that unfortunately graced his head. With a sigh he ran his damp hands through them, trying to arrange them in a suitably dignified fashion. Honestly, this was who the mortals had deemed worthy to act as his embodiment on their backwards little planet? At least the cheekbones were sharp, he supposed. And he was taller than average. It could be worse.

That last thought was put to the test when he opened Thomas' suitcase and stared in horror at the contents therein. Socks, a few pairs of boxers, and three identical blue jumpers in various states of shabbiness met his gaze. Apparently, the jeans discarded on the floor were the only trouser option. Searching the room he did find a three piece suit hanging in the closet, but he was familiar enough with Midgardian customs to know that it would be considered inappropriate for breakfast. With a curl of his lip and a beleaguered sigh he began pulling on the distressed clothing left behind by his former jailer. It was humiliating. The man was a celebrity, for Odin's sake. Wealthy and famous by the standards here. You would think he could afford to purchase some decent clothing. Grumbling to himself, Loki vowed that a shopping spree would be in his near future. He might have to pretend to be Thomas for a bit, he didn't intend to do it dressing like a pauper.

He was pleased to discover that Charlotte was prompt. He hated to be kept waiting, and would invariably get up to mischief if he was. As he was attempting to be on his good behavior, her quick arrival was appreciated. She was dressed in a pretty little casual sundress of which he approved. As they exited the hotel and began to stroll down the street in search of a place to eat it fluttered in the wind around her, giving him tantalizing glimpses of her thighs. Without thinking, Loki ran his fingers down her back and palmed her bottom with his big hand.

"Tom!" she hissed, jumping and pulling away.

"Something wrong, pet?" he asked, amused by her skittishness.

"We're supposed to be keeping things casual," she reminded him, glancing around guiltily.

"If you are trying to avoid attention, love, you are going about it all wrong," he snickered at her. "You look so obviously guilty, you may as well be wearing a sign around your lovely neck that reads "we fornicated like bilge... like rabbits.'"

"What is up with you this morning, Tom?" she asked, sounding aggrieved. 

"What do you mean?" he asked, taken aback.

"You're just not acting like yourself. Is it because we fucked?" she whispered fiercely. "Because if it is, then can we just forget it?"

"You want to forget that we... that we fucked?" he asked, stopping and turning to stare at her in disbelief.

"No," she replied, rolling her eyes. "No I don't. It was... well... it was the best sex of my life, okay?"

Loki's mouth tilted into a smug grin as her face turned scarlet. 

"Between last night and this morning," she continued, "I've never been screwed so hard in my life. I honestly don't know which was better. And that's not even getting into the second time."

Loki's grin was beginning to slide. Last night he had only been a sporadic participant. And what was she talking about, second time. They had only fucked twice, once last night and once this morning. Surely nothing the puny human had done with her in between could compare.

"The way you looked at me, Tom," she told him, eyes welling up for the second time that morning, "it was like you were looking straight into my soul. I've never felt so close to anyone. So no, I don't want to forget it. But as earth shattering as it all was, I would rather it had never happened than lose you as a friend. So start acting like yourself already!"

As she spoke the last words, Charlotte punched Loki in the arm. It didn't hurt, of course. She was a mortal, and a tiny one at that. But it was enough to startle him out of his shock. Shaking his head to clear it, he tried to think like Thomas. What pathetic excuse could he give her that she would accept?

"I'm sorry, Charlotte," he sighed, raising her hand to his lips and gallantly kissing the back of it. "I'm just... adjusting. To the shoot being over. I always loose myself a little when a project is over. You know, have to get the character out of my system so to speak. If I seem a bit... different for a few days, please bear with me. I promise, I would never do anything intentionally to drive you away. You are far, far too important to me."

As Loki gave her the most heart rending look he could manage with less than perfect features, he saw her irritation melt, and a look of desire flash briefly across her face. Good. Desire was something he could definitely put to good use. By the time he was done with this little mortal, she would forget her time with Hiddleston and all the schmaltzy sentimentality that went along with it. He would teach her what real passion, real pleasure were. In return, she would help him tread the line to keep suspicion at bay, at least until he was ready to announce his presence to the world. 

***

_"It's no good, friend," the man said to him, shaking his head sadly. "He's not going to let you out."_

_Tom looked over at the man who was staring at him, eyes gleaming with empathy._

_"Who are you?" he asked. "Why do you look like me?"_

_"Look like you," a younger voice laughed from behind him, causing him to spin around. "He's way more ripped than you are, old man."_

_"And you," Tom said, staring at the youth with the curly hair._

_"You look like you need a hit," the boy said, holding out a blunt. "Want some?"_

_"What? No."_

_Tom stared from one to the other as reality, or whatever it was, started to set in._

_"Oh god," he breathed, staring at the man in his blue suit and light yellow tie. "I recognize your outfit. You're Jonathan Pine, aren't you."_

_"Sometimes," the man said with a half smile, "though I do occasionally go by other names."_

_"And you - you're Oakley! God, was I ever that young?"_

_"I don't know, but you're certainly not now," the youth mocked, taking a drag on the joint._

_"Where am I?"_

_"How should we know?" Oakley said bitterly. "No one told us."_

_"Are there others here?"_

_"A few," Jonathan said, shooting Oakley a withering look. "Not as many as their used to be. Some come and go, others stick around. We're often here. So is Henry. And of course, Loki never left."_

_"He ruled this place," Oakley put in. "Never let any of us forget it either."_

_"I'm insane," Tom whispered, dropping his head into his hands. "That's the only explanation. I've had a psychiatric breakdown."_

_"Hey, now you sound like Lainge!" Oakley laughed. "Man, I hope he stays away. That one's a loon."_

_"Don't scare the man," Jonathan chided, then turned to Tom. "You've been here before, don't you remember?"_

_"I have?"_

_"A few times. Mostly just for a few minutes; days at most. But back in 2013...."_

_"You had a good long stay," Oakley nodded._

_2013\. Tom searched his memory. 2013. Comic Con in San Diego. A room full of people, standing on their feet, cheering._

"Say my name!"

_"Oh God!" he sat down on the ground and tried to make the world stop spinning._

**"SAY MY NAME!"**

" **LOKI! LOKI! LOKI!"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter free of smut, but (hopefully) packing some humor. I just got a giggle out of the idea of Loki having to pretend to be Tom. As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
> 
> I am going to be rotating between this story, For the Price of a Book, and the final chapters of Protection, so it will probably update every few days. Love to you all!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of smut and a new character joins Tom in the subconscious! Hope you enjoy!!

Loki pored the maple syrup onto his waffle, making sure to fill up every hole. He had always been quite pleased with the variety of sweets available in this realm, and was determined to enjoy them. That determination, naturally, included his plan to indulge in sampling said sweets off of Charlotte’s equally tempting body. 

“How do you stay in such perfect shape eating the way you do?” Charlotte asked in frustration as he devoured a large bite of waffle with an appreciative moan. 

“So you think my shape is perfect, do you?” He teased, eyebrow arching. 

“That’s not... I mean... it’s just a saying...” she stammered, turning beet red. 

“No need to be embarrassed, pet,” he told her with a grin. “I saw the way you looked at me when we were naked. And for the record, I am more than appreciative of your own form.”

Loki’s eyes glazed a bit as he pictured her rid of the pretty dress she was wearing, bent over the table and on display for him. It was an enticing idea, but alas one that he would have to wait to put into action. He swallowed his frustration with another bite of waffle. 

“So, are you excited for San Diego?” She asked, obviously trying to change the subject. 

“San Diego?” He echoed, uncertain to what she was referring and still partially lost in his fantasy of fucking her amidst their breakfast. 

“Comic Con. I assume you’re going this weekend. You know, to promote the new Loki show.”

His attention was instantly reclaimed at the sound of his name. Being trapped in Tom’s body, Loki had of necessity been privy to most of the things the mortal said or did. But this did not mean that he always payed attention. The man could be so mind numbingly earnest after all. Half the time Loki spent devising his plans for when he was able to free himself.

It had happened on several occasions, though only once before for any length of time. He could still remember that first moment. It had happened just weeks after Loki had found himself stirring within the human's subconscious. Thomas had been wearing a facsimile of his armor, hair and face altered to look more god like - more like Loki. An ersatz version of Odin had been relating the truth of Loki's origins, cast out, unwanted, a child of their mortal enemies. The words had pierced through Thomas' mind to fill Loki with wave upon wave of emotion. Despair, anger, hurt, betrayal, all these and many more feelings had washed over him, filling the room in which he hid, trapped from the world, until the swell of it all had brought him to the surface. 

"You took me for a reason," he had thrown at Odin. "TELL ME!"

He had not lasted on the outside more than a few moments, but it had been enough. After that, he looked for opportunities. Emotion seemed to be his hook into the outer world. If Thomas were exposed to things that moved Loki greatly he would rise to the surface. Acclaim, anger, power, all of these brought the God forward. He was a creature of passion, lust most of all.

And so it was the women, more than anything else, that gave him his best chance of escape. Loki and Thomas were similar in their appetites when it came to bed sport. They both liked to play, to dominate. Both liked women who were smart, passionate, comely... women like Charlotte. When Thomas was with such women, particularly when his whole heart was engaged, his behavior naturally as close to the God's as he ever came. It was a perfect opportunity. It was how he was here, now.

"Ah yes," he smiled, "Comic Con. I must go and attend to my army."

It was at Comic Con when he had really discovered how thoroughly he could free himself. There he had been, subsumed as usual, listening to the pathetic mortal who held him captive try to assume his majesty, when something extraordinary had occurred. All of those chattering earthlings out in the hall had begun chanting his name. It was glorious! It was electrifying! And it brought him to the surface where he belonged for over a week!

"Your army?" Charlotte laughed.

"Oh, don't worry, pet," he smiled at her. "None of them can hold a candle to you."

"So you are going?" she said, swallowing uncomfortably. "The show must be progressing well then. No, don't worry, I'm not asking for details. I know you can't tell me anything."

"Nonsense," he replied. "It is my show as you put it. I can tell you whatever I wish. I am sure though, that I will have more to say on it once I see their pathetic attempts. I have ideas of my own. After all who knows more about - " he caught himself just in time, "-more about Loki than I do, having played him all this time."

"I guess," she looked at him questioningly. "You really think they'll let you do that though? I mean, this is Marvel. Disney. They're pretty controlling."

"No one controls me, darling. Quite the opposite."

"Well, good luck I guess. In San Diego and with the show."

"You know what would bring me good luck," he purred, sliding around to join her on her side of their booth and resting his hand on her thigh.

"What?" she asked, breath hitching.

"If you were to come with me."

Loki pasted on his best innocent smile and slid his hand upward, grazing her skin under her skirt.

"Tom!" she gasped, eyes dilating. "What are you doing?"

"Convincing you," he murmured into her ear, fingering the waistband of her nickers. "Please Charlotte? Come to San Diego with me?"

Her mouth opened, presumably to chastise him for his forward behavior, but before she could speak Loki slipped his fingers under the elastic of her undies and flicked gently and skillfully to bring out her clit. Char gave the most arousing little hitch of a moan as her words died on her lips. Her eyes flew around the room to make sure they were not being observed, but at the same time he felt her legs part ever so slightly. Seizing the opening, Loki dipped two of his long fingers down into her slit and found it blissfully wet to his touch. His thumb still circling her clit, he pushed deep within her, curving his fingers to hit upon her inner point of pleasure. Charlotte's eyes closed and her breath began to come in pants as he worked his way in and out of her.

"Say you'll join me, pet," he whispered to her, tongue trailing against the sensitive skin behind her ear. "I'll make it worth your while."

"I thought you said... just the one time..." she was having trouble concentrating as he continued to fuck her with his hand. She was fisting the skirt of her dress, trying her best not to let the small whimpers he was causing become louder than a sigh.

"Forget what I said," he commanded, opening one of her fists with his free hand and sliding it into his hastily unzipped jeans to caress his straining cock. "I want you Charlotte. Not just for a night. I want you to be mine. You are mine. Say it, darling. Say it for me."

"I'm yours," she keened softly, tension building to a peak as he fingered her into a silent orgasm. "I'm yours. Oh, God, Tom, I'm yours."

Loki felt a small growl forming in his chest at the other's name, but he managed to suppress it. She might think she belonged to Thomas, but she would learn. Before long she would realize just who it was who had bought her soul.

"Yes, you are love," he told her, withdrawing his fingers and licking them clean of her juices. "Now let us go back to the hotel so you can show me just how much."

***

_"I don't see why you'd even want to go back," a rather monotone voice remarked from Tom's left._

_Spinning around he saw that a new person had appeared, one that again looked like him but this time with dark, wild hair and skin even paler than Loki's._

_"What do you mean?" he demanded, anger building._

_"Just look at it out there," the obviously depressed man said with a shrug. "Look at what the zombies have done to it. You couldn't pay me to set foot outside of this reality."_

_"God, Adam, could you be any more depressing," Jonathan Pine groaned, with a face that showed he had heard all of this before._

_"Adam, of course," Tom shook his head. "I suppose I should have expected you."_

_"I don't see why," Adam answered. "I'm not here very often."_

_"Well something brings you all around," Tom insisted, thinking hard. "What is it? Maybe if we can figure that out I can figure out how to get me back out and Loki back in."_

_"You're assuming we want Loki back," Oakley said. "Can't say I miss him, and I was the closest thing the bastard had to an ally."_

_"You weren't an ally, you were an opportunist," Jonathan told him with a curl to his lip. "You only ever think of yourself. No, Tom is right. We have to get Loki back inside before he hurts anyone."_

_"We all hurt other people," Adam sighed, "it's what it means to be alive."_

_"It doesn't have to be that way," Jonathan insisted._ _"I don't know what it is that brings us here. Something on the outside, I would expect. After all, nothing in here ever changes besides which ones of us are present."_

_"You said that you're here the most," Tom asked him, trying to get some sort of feel for the logic of the place._

_"Lately he is," Adam agreed, "but he only started appearing over the last couple of years."_

_"Okay, that makes sense," Tom nodded._

_"Why?" Jonathan asked, curious._

_"That's when I did the tv show. The Night Manager. That's when I played you. And you told me Oakley had been here the longest."_

_"There are one or two others who were here back then," Oakley shrugged, "but they never come around any more."_

_"So you appear in my subconscious when I perform you. That's fits. Who else did you say is here a lot?"_

_Tom was determined to work things out. Loki was out there getting closer and closer to Charlotte, and it was only a matter of time before he hurt her. After all the trouble Tom had gone through to avoid just this scenario, he could not believe he had let it happen nonetheless. His poor girl was in danger, and it was up to him to save her. He only wished he didn't have that small voice in his head insisting that he was mad. He only hoped that the voice was not correct._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki has his way with Char while Tom tries to formulate a plan.

Loki smiled as his eyes raked over the naked girl tied to the bed, a scarf wrapped securely around her eyes. He had encountered very little resistance as he led her back to her room - his had too many reminders of Thomas for his liking, he could feel the mortal straining to break free - and stripped her bare. The binding had taken a little more convincing, but he was not named Silver Tongue for nothing. A few well placed kisses, a wheedling request or two, and she was spread out and captive for him to enjoy. Soon even that much effort would not be necessary, he was certain. Before long all it would take would be a single command from his lips to have her rushing to cater to his every depraved whim. 

Reaching into to glass on the night stand, Loki pulled out a frozen cube and held it above her body. Slowly a series of drips fell icy cold onto her skin, making her twist back and forth in her bonds fashioned from the chord of her satin robe as she cried out in shock. Teasingly he brought the ice down to circle one nipple and then the other, raising them into even tighter peaks, before tracing a long, lazy, sinuous line down the center of her body and across her lower abdomen. As he let his hot mouth suck in her cold breast, he slid the melting cube over her exposed clit, making her gasp, and then inserted it deep into her grasping hole, holding it in with his long fingers as it melted from her heat. 

“Oh my God,” she moaned, writhing beneath him. 

“I’m right here, pet,” he smirked in response. "Tell me what you want." 

“Fuck me,” she begged, panting as she pushed her cunt towards his hand to lodge his fingers further within her. “Please, Tom, fuck me hard.”

Loki growled when she spoke the other’s name and kissed her brutally to stop its sound from escaping her lips again. Deep in the far recesses of him mind he could hear his nemesis screaming in response to her desperate plea. He needed to make her forget the man, forget everyone and everything but him. Drawing out his chilled fingers and wiping them down her inner thigh, he settled himself between her legs, swollen cock poised at her entrance. 

“You will have no one but me from now on,” he told her, just barely penetrating her with his head. “I will accept no rivals. This pussy, so wet and so willing is now for me alone, understand?”

”Yes,” she panted, desperately trying to take him in. “Yes.”

She didn't, of course. Could not possibly understand that it was Thomas he spoke of. She would in time. She would understand all of it in time.

”Good girl,” he grinned, and slammed home into her, balls slapping against her body. “I will have you all to myself, at my beck and call whenever I feel the need. You will accept me, worship me, please me in any way I choose. Just me.”

With each command he thrust into her harder, feeling the tip of his cock hitting her cervix as he demanded her obedience. Charlotte, pummeled body arching with want, whimpered in response, taking him with enthusiasm as he claimed her body and soul. She did not even protest when his hand went around her throat, limiting her air supply and driving her further under his control. The knowledge that he could so easily break her, that he held the power of life or death over her fragile body, made him nearly mad with lust. His mouth moved mercilessly over her skin, biting and sucking and licking with abandon, branding her pale flesh with his passion. He wanted all of her. Wanted the world to know he possessed her. Wanted her to know who owned her soul as of today. 

“Call me your God,” He rasped in her ear as he held momentarily inside her clenching walls. 

“What?” She gasped, a small laugh coloring her utterance as she squirmed, attempting to get him to move once more. 

“Call me your God,” he growled again, refusing to move until she obeyed his command. He might not be able to hear her scream his name, she was not ready for that truth yet, but he could have the next best thing. “Scream for your God, your King, your Master!”

"I don't think..." she began, breath coming in gasps as she pressed closer to his hips.

"Don't think," he snarled, cutting her off by tightening his grip just enough to startle her. "Do as I say. Or shall I stop?"

With painful slowness he began to pull out of her protesting tunnel. Charlotte bucked beneath him, desperate to keep him inside of her. The whining pleas she made were music to his ears.

"No!" she beseeched him. "No, don't stop. Please, I'm so close."

"I could push you over the edge if you wish it," he purred, licking along the skin behind her ear. "I can make you feel so good. Deliciously so. Just say what I want to hear. You know you want to."

"I...I..."

"I can send you into heaven, little one," he promised, biting at her nipple as he rotated his hips, the mere tip of him left within her threatening to slip loose. "Or I can leave you here, tied and helpless while I pleasure myself to site of your naked body, spilling my seed on your flesh instead of deep within you where it belongs."

"No," she implored, straining to keep him inside her. "No, I want you inside me. Please."

"Then listen to your God and obey!"

”Yes,” she pleaded, rocking against him. “Yes, whatever you say, my God. You are my God. Just please, please fuck me!”

”As you wish,” he smiled, and began moving within her with a renewed force. Her cries became louder as he proved his mastery of her cunt, calling him every name he wished except his own. Soon. Soon she would know who’s cock she worshipped. He swore it to himself. He would make Thomas nothing but a distant memory in the girl’s mind and silence the screaming he could hear even now within his own. 

Losing himself in the fantasy of hearing her pledge herself eternally to him, Loki brought his hand down to stroke her clit so that he could feel her gush around him as he emptied into her. A few expert passes were all it took before she tightened like a vice around him, pumping all he had to give into her core. 

“TOM!!!!!” She screamed as she flew apart. It was like a nail in his heart. 

" _Darling! I'm here_!"

"Oh, you are a God, my God."

"Yes, yes I am."

***

_He was almost weeping with frustration. He had been so close. For a moment he had fought back to the surface, only to have Loki rest control from him once more. He knew it was Charlotte's love - dare he call it that - that had brought him back, but how long until Loki twisted that love until she lost herself to him? He had seen the God do so before, back after the adoration of Comic Con had set him loose on the world._

_Tom had been trapped, sealed away from his own body, while Loki proceeded to manipulate the woman he was seeing at the time. The girl had seemed to enjoy it at first, much to Tom's chagrin, as Loki had dominated her in bed, all the time wearing Tom's body like a cheap costume. The worst part was that Tom could still feel it on some level, like an echo of the passion, the lust flowing back and forth between Loki and his paramour. He had shared in the experience like some sort of twisted threesome, and discovered he enjoyed the feeling of having the poor woman under his control, subjugated to his lust - Loki's lust - in his bed._

_"I won't let this happen to Char," he said aloud, hands balling into fists. "I won't let him hurt her."_

_"It seems to me she doth enjoy the pain."_

_If Jonathan Pine was fit, the man facing him now was massive. Large biceps, worked for years to swing a sword with all the power the human body could muster, and thick, muscled thighs screamed louder than words that this new presence was every inch the soldier. Cold eyes stared out at Tom from beneath close cropped, burnished hair. A hard smile that revealed no joy twisted his lips as he looked with contemptuous pity at Tom._

_"Some wenches do, though they do blush to say it," he added cynically._

_"Wonderful," Adam groaned, rolling his eyes. "Yes, let's hear from the exemplar of romance."_

_"You know not who I am to speak me so," the soldier spat at the dark haired man._

_"Of course I do," Adam sneered. "You're one of Marlow's lessor creations. I don't know what he was thinking when he penned you."_

_"I'll make you weep for death 'or ere you die!"_

_"Wait!" Tom shouted, shoving himself between them. "No one needs to kill anyone! You, you're Caius Martius, yes?"_

_"Count your blessings that I spare your life," Martius growled at Adam before turning once more to Tom._

  
"I am indeed he that you nameth so.   
A pity 'tis you are dishonored thus,  
But many a lass have I seen in my time,   
Though she seem steeped in virtue by the day,  
Doth drown at night in lust's debaucheries.  
I fear it may be so with this your wench.  
Then why not give the dark haired fiend the reins  
And let him bring her pleasures she doth seek.  
Then when the day again doth come around,  
Do you assert your claim and win her back."

_"Wait a minute," Tom said, quickly deciphering the Elizabethan syntax and saying a silent prayer for his RADA studies, "are saying I should go along with the 'Tom in the streets, Loki in the sheets' meme I can't seem to shake?"_

_"You see with eyes astute, my noble friend," Martius smiled and nodded._

_From the far corner, Tom heard Oakley snort with laughter, but resolutely ignored the grating boy. How had he ever found a kinship with such a puerile, selfish character as Oakley?_

_"I am not going to let Loki fuck my girlfriend at night while I idly sit by!" he exploded._

_"She's your girlfriend now, is she?" Adam asked quietly from his seat against the wall._

_"Well, she should be," he huffed, unsure suddenly of himself._

_Truly, what was happening? Had he gone insane? Was the stress he put himself under, the pursuit of perfection, not in acting per se, but in finding compassion for each of the roles he played finally wreaking havoc on his brain? He could almost laugh at all of it, were it not for Charlotte. Charlotte, who's smile and whit had gotten him through the tension of this last shoot. Charlotte who, more than any other person he had encountered shared his love of theater, of Shakespeare. Charlotte who had given herself to him so completely and unreservedly the night before. And Charlotte who was even now tied to a bed with a depraved Loki taking pleasure from her body._

_"You didn't seem to want that before," Adam reminded him, voice carefully neutral. "You said it was a one time deal."_

_"It had to be," Tom explained, frustration rife within his voice. "Otherwise Loki would come out and claim her. I shouldn't have indulged in my desire for her at all. I should have kept her safe."_

_"Yeah, safe from a good hard shagging," Oakley snickered. "Seems to me the girl likes the Lokster."_

_"They all do at first," he sniped. "The domination, the obsessive jealousy, the controlling nature. It's all hot in the bed room in the beginning. But this is Loki. His possessive streak will not stop there. He will want to order her entire life. Char is a smart, independent woman with a career of her own ready to break out. I will not let that preening egomaniac keep her from experiencing all that she has before her."_

_"Just how will you defeat the Trickster God?" Marcius asked._

_"It was my name she called out just now," Tom said, beginning to form his strategy. "She is not under his sway completely. I was almost out this last time, I could feel it. I just have to wait until something reminds her of me, the real me. If I can tap into Loki's emotions at that point, I should be able to wrest control from him again."_

_"Well, I'd do it sooner rather than later," Jonathan recommended. "If he receives another Comic Con ovation, that's the game. You'll never get him under control again."_

_Ignoring the fear those words filled him with, Tom turned his attention back to the surface, hoping that some spark would light his way back to his life and his love._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided to have some fun with iambic pentameter! Hope you enjoyed a little Caius Marcius. :)
> 
> I am dealing with a impending death in my family (my soon to be 98 year old Grandmother) so my writing is a little distracted at the moment while I help my mother arrange all the services, etc. Writing does serve a nice escape, so I'm not giving it up, but it's harder to write every day. Please be patient, I promise I will update when I can!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom attempts to use logic to get a better handle on his situation. Loki has plans.

_He woke up with a start, sitting straight up from where he had been lying in the featureless nowhere of his own mind. Tom didn't remember falling asleep. He had been talking with Jonathan, he thought. Trying to devise a way to escape this prison of his psyche and get back to his life and his love. And then, suddenly, there had been darkness as if a light had switched off._

_"You get used to it eventually," Adam's listless monotone informed him from a few feet away._

_Tom looked over to see the dark haired vampire sitting in an open, striped robe with his head tilted back. For the moment there didn't seem to be anyone here besides the two of them. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and tried to reorder his thoughts._

_"What happened?" he asked._

_"How would I know?" Adam shrugged._

_"You've been here," Tom prompted, impatient. "You never tried to figure out why? Or what was going on out there?"_

_"What's going on 'out there' as you call it is death," Adam told him with a hard look. "The zombies are killing each other, killing the planet, killing themselves."_

_"Yes, yes," Tom interrupted, feeling intense frustration with the other's maudlin self pity. "I know, you hate us all."_

_"Not all," Adam allowed. "A few of you are... not horrible. I don't hate you, for instance."_

_"I'm honored," Tom sniped._

_"That's why I think you should just stay in here. It's safer. Quieter, especially with Loki gone."_

_"I can not leave Charlotte to his mercy!" Tom thought for a moment, trying to focus on the particulars of Adam's story. "What would you do if it was Eve?"_

_"Eve?"_

_"Yes, if Loki had targeted Eve. If he was seducing her, bending her to his will?"_

_"I'd like to see him try," Adam almost smiled at the thought._

_"Alright, but if she was weakened, say. If she had... ingested tainted blood. And Loki managed to subdue her. Wouldn't you move heaven and earth to get back to her?"_

_Adam looked at him long and hard, eyes seeming to hone in on Tom for the first time since he had been in his presence._

_"You actually love her?" he asked quietly._

_"I do," Tom nodded. "I didn't realize how much until I let my guard down with her. But then... yeah, I love her."_

_"Fine. I'll help you. Not that I really know what to do."_

_"Have you noticed any trend?" Tom asked, rising to pace back and forth. "Any pattern to what goes on here?"_

_"I think the darkness comes when you sleep," Adam offered after a long silence._

_"When I sleep?"_

_"Well, when whoever is in control sleeps," the Vampire clarified. "Most of the time we... whoever is present... can tune in to what is going on in the outside world, if we care to. The others do more than me. They all want to get out. Into the sun. Fools that they are."_

_"Yes, yes, the world is bad," Tom tried to hold back his irritation. "You were saying?"_

_"We can see what you - now Loki - sees, more or less. Feel a shadow of what he feels. But after so long in just all goes away for a time. I believe it is when he sleeps. After all, you can't see into someone's sleep if you are the dream."_

_"That is downright poetical," came a twang from behind Tom. "Do you plan on using that yer'self, or can I steal that fer one a' my songs?"_

_"Please, be my guest," Adam gestured gracefully._

_"Much obliged."_

_"We haven't seen you here for some time," Adam remarked, a ghost of a smile almost reaching his lips if not his eyes._

_"Did ya miss me?" the man asked._

_"Of course," Adam nodded. "No one else understands music."_

_Tom stared at the pencil thin version of himself in the white hat and sighed. It had been torturous getting down to such a slim weight. Worth it though, in the end._

_"Well, are you just goin to stand there starin', or are you gonna say hello to ol' Hank?" Williams asked._

_"Hi, Hank."_

_Truly, Tom had gone around the bend._

____

***

"How did you get so skinny?" Charlotte asked as Loki came back from the bathroom, towel slung low around his hips.

She was perched on the bed in a long t shirt, smiling at the electronic contraption that took up a good portion of the opposite wall. Glancing at the picture he saw a familiar lanky silhouette. Thomas in one of his lesser roles. The one with the annoyingly grating voice who howled like bilge snipe and called it music.

"Please turn that off," he requested, voice strained. "I can't abide watching... myself. Acting."

"Really?" she giggled, leaving the tv on much to his annoyance. "I can't either, but I thought you must be used to it by now. You really can't watch any of your performances, even after all this time?"

"Loki," he said, snatching the remote from her and shutting off the infernal machine. "Other than that, no."

"So he's your favorite?" she asked pensively, eyes instinctively gliding over his well muscled physique as he dropped the towel.

"Of course," he replied, looking at her as though she had lost her mind. "Who else could it possibly be?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, getting up to cross the room and wrap her arms around his waist. "I'm rather fond of Henry V."

"Really," he growled, voice repressive.

"Well, yeah," she smiled, apparently missing the danger in his tone. "You know what a giant Shakespeare nerd I am. I used to fantasize about getting to play Katherine opposite you."

"I see."

Loki tried to keep the anger from welling up inside of him. It was not her fault, he supposed. She had not, after all, been exposed to the real Loki. Not until yesterday. She had merely seen a weak representation of him. It stood to reason that mortal writers, not to mention his imperfect vessel, Thomas, would not be able to do justice to him. And of all the other parts Thomas had played, at least Henry was a King. There was a certain nobility to his bearing, his voice, his wardrobe... which reminded Loki...

"Pet," he said, kissing the top of her head, "how would you feel about a bit of shopping?"

"Shopping?" she looked at him in surprise.

"Indeed. We have the interview this evening for the movie, and I find I am... weary of blue jumpers."

Charlotte stepped back from his embrace and stared at him with an opened mouth look of shock and horror.

"Who are you?" she asked, eyes wide. "Who are you, and what have you done with Tom Hiddleston?"

"I - I assure you, I have done nothing..." Loki began to stammer, until to his great irritation Charlotte burst into peals of laughter.

"You find this amusing?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I find it miraculous!" she said, scampering away as he grabbed for her. "But how will your legion of fangirls recognize you? With out The Uniform, I mean?"

"The uniform," he echoed, menacingly.

"You do know we - they - call it that, don't you? Blue jumper, dark jeans, grey boots?"

"I was... unaware," Loki muttered. Curse the man and his lack of style! Was he trying to make them a mockery, even among his fans?

"For a clever man, you can be rather dim sometimes," she giggled. 

"Careful, love," he warned her, stalking her around the bed. "You are treading on dangerous ground."

"Oh no, what are you going to do?" she asked, running around to the other side. "Punish me?"

Disdaining to chase, her, Loki instead lunged across the mattress with his superior length and snatched both of her hands, dragging her up on the bed on her stomach. Holding her down with a firm arm across her middle, Loki hoisted up her shirt to reveal her adorably pert rear.

"I think I might just follow your suggestion," he grinned fiendishly.

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked, voice a bit breathless.

"You have been a naughty girl, Charlotte," he explained condescendingly. "Disrespecting your God in such a manner."

"Tom," she protested.

"And naughty girl's get punished," he overrode her use of the other's name. "Now, we have places to be, so I will keep this short. Shall we say ten? Count out loud, pet."

"Count what?" she asked, squirming beneath his vice like grip.

With a malicious gleam in his eye Loki brought his palm down hard onto her delicate little ass, slap ringing out along with her shriek of protest.

"Oh God!" she moaned in shock.

"Yes, love," he answered. "I'm right here. But you are supposed to be counting."

His hand made contact with her soft flesh again, this time favoring the other side with a good spank.

"You don't really want -"

Whack!

"Yes, I really do," he insisted. "Now be a good girl. I won't ask again. I will simply switch to my belt."

Slap!

"Okay, okay, four!" she squeaked out, heat rising in equal measure from both her blushing face and her tortured ass.

"I should make you start at one," he mused, rubbing her bottom and enjoying the warmth of it. "But we don't have that much time."

Loving the glazed, aroused look in her eyes, Loki continued his chastisement, hard cock bobbing when ever his hand made contact with her skin. Her voice wantonly cried out the numbers as he spanked her, desire vivid in its rich tones. He could not resist smirking as she discovered how much she loved this, loved being at his mercy. And this was only the beginning.

When he had reached ten, and added an eleventh just because he could, much to her protestations, Loki moved on the bed to cage her in beneath him and with a single thrust sheathed himself in her. She was all but gushing from his punishment, the wonderful little strumpet, and he slid inside with a tight ease that made him groan in pleasure. Fisting his hand in her shining hair, he began rutting into her, fucking her into the mattress with abandon. Her own gasps and screams soon joined his own, adding to his feeling of pride that such a perfect little whore should be his to command, his to own.

"That's it," he urged her on, feeling the tightening beginning in his thighs. "That's it, my filthy little pet. Come for your Master. Show me how thankful you are for my teaching you the proper way to treat your God."

"Oh, God, yes," she cried, fingers clawing at the bed spread. "Thank you, thank you, Master!"

With a final, agonizing thrust as she screamed beneath him, Loki emptied into her, shuddering with the force of their shared orgasm. Growling in lust, he bent his head and sunk his teeth into the base of her neck, claiming her like an animal in an ancient, primal mating ritual. Her body was limp and boneless beneath him, shaking in the after shock of passion.

"Good girl," he purred, tonguing her ear. "You are such a good girl, my Charlotte. I knew you would like that. I knew exactly what kind of woman you were the first time I ever saw you, and you have not once disappointed me."

"Strange," she said, voice coming in gasps as she climbed back to some semblance of normalcy, "I'm beginning to think that I didn't know you at all before."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry I have been gone for so long from this fic! I had family obligations, and then my Loki fic "For the Price of a Book" just seemed to be demanding my attention. Now that I have finished that story, I am back working on this one again!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! It occured to me yesterday that Hank would be one of the few Zombies that Adam would actually respect due to his musical ability. What do you all think? Also, are their any other Tom characters you'd like to see make an appearence? It is fun for me to figure out speach for them. Embarrassing to say, but I believe I have watched everything on his IMDB page, so all characters are open!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki gives an interview. What could possibly go wrong? Also, Tom finally gets some help!

Loki was _not_ in a charitable mood. First, the insufferable tailor had had the gall to tell him that he would not be able to custom create a suit by his five o’clock interview time, not even for such a highly regarded client as Mr. Hiddleston. Loki was disgusted by the lack of efficiency in this backwards realm, but just as he was scowling in preparation to sufficiently terrorize the man into meeting his time schedule, he happened to catch a look at Charlotte’s face. His beautiful companion was staring at him with a probing look that set alarm bells ringing in his mind. Quickly replacing his completely justified frown with one of Thomas’ idiotic grins, Loki rushed to assure the useless servant that he understood his ineptitude. Particularly after her comment about not knowing him that morning, he did not want to arouse Charlotte’s suspicions. 

He had settled on a pair of black leather trousers that hugged his form the way he preferred and an expensive green button down shirt that fit tightly across his chest. He paired the look with a black leather jacket and boots, and gelled his hair in an attempt to contain the obnoxiously unruly curls that ridiculously topped Thomas’ head. It was not his leather armor, and it was not a custom suit, but it was the best he was going to get at this moment, so it would have to do. 

The next frustration was that Charlotte refused to let him purchase her a fitting outfit to be worn by his concubine. There was a lovely green dress that would have looked magnificent on her, showing off just enough of her charms to keep him entertained, while not being quite so much that he would need to kill any other man who looked twice at her. The stubborn woman had flatly refused however, saying that she was not a “kept woman” and would not be treated like one. He bit his tongue to keep from telling her that she was wrong on both fronts. He had every intention of keeping her, and closely too. She had best get used to the idea quickly. But again, he could not simply say that. Instead he had to laugh that stupid “ehehehe” laugh and actually apologize for trying to assert his rights. It was nigh on unbearable!

It was in this mood that he arrived at the studio where the primary cast of Much Ado was to be filming their interview. Charlotte had further irked him by insisting on arriving separately. Thomas and his damnable obsession with privacy were too well known for him to put up a fight, so he had surrendered her at the lobby of the hotel, had an unsatisfactory late lunch, and made his way here alone. 

“Hey, Loki!” an overly perky woman giggled from where she stood adorning his girl’s face with paint. 

Loki spun towards her, panic welling up inside of him. How had she known? He had spent all day, well at least since leaving the bed, painfully playing the role of Hiddleston. What had given him away?

”Nice outfit,” the makeup woman went on, grinning at him. “Gearing up for the next role already, are we? I never knew you to be method.”

Turning a sigh of relief into a self effacing chuckle, he glanced down at his clothing. He personally didn’t think it was nearly up to his usual standards, but he supposed it was a large step away from the mind numbingly repetitive outfit his adversary sported day in day out.

“I am always eager to portray Loki,” he said, trying to keep the note of dismissal out of his voice.

“I’m sure,” the woman grinned. “Every actor I know prefers playing the villain.”

”Loki is not a villain!” He insisted, glaring at her. 

“Oh, put your hackles down, Hiddles,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “God, Char, have you ever seen anyone so defensive of an imaginary character?”

”No one loves Loki like Tom loves Loki,” Charlotte agreed with a laugh, blushing adorably as she met his eyes. 

“What do you mean?” He asked, arrested. 

“You are constantly defending him,” Charlotte explained, smiling gently. “It’s sweet, really. The way you tell everyone who will listen about how he is just a poor lonely soul with a suitcase of pain that he refuses to let anyone see.”

Loki gaped at her in alarm. Did Thomas really say such trite things about him? A suitcase of pain indeed! If Loki _was_ to carry around his pain, his centuries of betrayal, it would take _much_ _more_ than a suitcase to hold it all. Still, he would not have thought the other had such... soft feeling about him. It was rather disturbing honestly. 

“So Tom,” the makeup woman whose name was escaping him piped up annoyingly, “maybe you can help me solve a mystery.”

”I can try,” he said cautiously, clasping his hands behind his back. 

“It seems our little Char here got lucky the other night,” she smirked, looking at his woman speculatively.

”Got lucky?” He repeated, raising an eyebrow. 

“Uh huh. Very lucky, judging by the hickies I had to cover up all over her neck.”

Loki stared at the woman, one blushing and one smirking. Had he heard that right? Had this irksome mortal dared to cover the marks of his claim that he had gifted Charlotte with? And had his chosen one allowed her to do so? With out so much as checking with him first to see if he approved? Loki felt his blood boil at the impudence of the pair of them. 

“You were there later than was at the after party,” the meddlesome wench ran on, apparently unaware of the danger she was in. “Did you see who it was?”

”No, he didn’t,” Charlotte said quickly, shooting him an apologetic look. 

“Ooh, was it the hottie stunt coordinator? He couldn’t take his eyes off you the whole night! I bet he’s nice and limber between the sheets, too!”

Loki’s nails began to carve crescent moons into his palms and he clenched his fists in anger. Only Charlotte’s look of chagrin managed to keep him quiet. It seemed from her expression his poor girl actually felt guilty. She should of course, but only for hiding his branding of her body, not for allowing it to be seen in the first place. Again Loki cursed Thomas and his overly nice self denial. If he were the man - or rather if he had been the man earlier - he would have had her glassy eyes from lack of sleep and barely able to walk from marathons of sex ages ago. Her body would have been covered with the evidence of his desire for her to proudly display from the first night he met her. Well, he would just have to make up for lost time. As for this stunt coordinator... well, he best hope he never so much as glanced at Loki’s woman again.

Things did not improve with the interview. They were all seated along a long table, with Loki at one end Charlotte all the way down at the other with her fellow supporting actors. Much to his distaste he was seated between the interviewer and Mimi. From her overly made up face to her patently fake breasts, the woman was a repellent type of “beauty”. Nothing to compare to his genuine darling.

Loki tried to keep his mind on responding how Thomas would, feigning enthusiasm with an overly toothy grin and the long winded, meandering answers his fans seemed to enjoy. He thought he was acquitting him rather well, the Norns knew he had been made to witness enough of these things, until the interviewer turned to him with an over eager grin.

”So Tom,” the man said, voice all but vibrating with excitement, “can we ask you about the latest rumor? Do you have any comment?”

”What rumor,” he asked, having difficulty keeping the contempt he felt for the man from his voice.

”Ooooh! You haven’t heard!” the man was practically salivating. "A blind item in the morning post says there was a definite vibe going on between two of the actors on the set of Much Ado. And then a little birdie might have mentioned to me that you were seen in a... shall we say intimate embrace in the back alley behind the bar at the cast party."

Loki glared at the man, wishing he had his dagger so that he might vivisect the toad.

"You had a question?" he asked repressively.

"My question," the interviewer gushed, "is can you confirm this for us? Are you, perhaps, engaged in a secret relationship with our delightful Mimi?"

The ripple of humor that passed down the table was palpable. Everyone who had been on the set knew Mimi and Tom detested each other. She thought him a stuck up Shakespeare snob, while he saw her as a shallow phony unwilling or unable to do the work necessary for the role she had been cast in. They would never be an item. Of all his complaints about Thomas, and Loki had many, he had to admit that the man had impeccable taste in women. With one notable exception he had always approved of the females his captor had chosen to couple with. A fortunate thing, considering that most of the time it was the closest he came to experiencing carnal pleasures himself.

"So?" the idiotic questioner prodded. "Are we hearing lovebirds singing you two?"

"Well," Mimi began, smiling in what he was sure was supposed to be a seductive manner at him.

"Yes," Loki cut her off with a dismissive glance. "But not with her."

The word "her" uttered in his velvety voice all dripped with disparagement. Mimi pulled back as if he had slapped her, giving Loki a moment of pleasure. He would _not_ allow anyone to think that he would stoop so low.

"Who then?" their host prodded breathlessly.

"Charlotte, pet," Loki purred, standing and holding out his hand to her, "I think it's about time we went public with our liaison, don't you?"

***

_Was this really all he had to work with? It was not that he didn't enjoy music, in fact Tom often wished that his gifts in that direction were as robust as those for acting. It was simply that what he needed right now was a practical, workable way out of this situation. As if practical could ever figure in to the situation in which he found himself._

_While Hand and Adam sat harmonizing in the corner he paced back and forth, hands tugging at his hair. He was certain that Adam was on to something with the sleeping idea. It would make sense. If they were trapped somehow in the back of what was now Loki's subconscious, it would be difficult to be aware of anything while he slept. Perhaps if the vampire would put down his guitar and come over to assist him some more Tom could make some headway. Unfortunately, his attention had been completely snapped up by Hank._

_"Why can't I decipher it?" he burst out in frustration._

_"Decipher what?" asked a voice beside him._

_Tom looked up and rolled his eyes for a moment. Oakley? Again? The last thing he needed was the little miscreant antagonizing him while he was trying to think. A second look, however, proved that his first impression was incorrect. It was not the spoiled young student who stood next to him. No, while this man had the same tousled blond hair that Tom had sported in his younger years, he was broader across his chest and shoulders. He was also dressed more maturely in a blue and white striped shirt and jeans, topped with a jacket._

_"Well?" the younger version of himself asked again with an impatient look._

_"Why we are here," Tom told Magnus, eyeing the detective. "Why we are locked in this place. Where are we? How do we get out? Why certain of you appear at certain times, why you disappear, when each of these comings and goings take place."_

_"I can help you with that last one," Magnus offered, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small note book._

_"You can?" Tom stared, stunned._

_"I've been taking notes," Magnus shrugged. "When each person arrives and goes away. I don't have all the occurrences, of course. Only what I've been privy to, and what I have been able to learn from the others."_

_"You've been keeping notes?" Tom felt his hope experience the first small surge since he had ended up in this hell. "Why?"_

_"It's not like I have a lot of other things to do," Magnus rolled his eyes. "I might as well work the case, as it were. No one else is doing anything."_

_"And you've talked to the others?" Tom wanted to be clear._

_"As I said," Magnus sounded a bit miffed that Tom would be questioning his thoroughness. "By the way, nice choice with Charlotte. She's a looker."_

_"Thank you," Tom made his tone repressive. "I wish Looking was all any of you were doing."_

_"Don't lump the rest of us in with that ego maniac out there," Magnus said. "Most of the others are harmless enough, though I wouldn't leave Sharpe or Laing alone with my sister. And Oakley's a little punk, but you've met him already I hear. Oh, and Jag Tom. Watch your back with him."_

_"Jag Tom?" Tom asked._

_"From the commercial," Magnus nodded. "He's a villain first and foremost. Still, he seems to have a certain code of honor. I don't like him, but he's still better than the nutters."_

_"Got it," Tom's head was beginning to spin from all of the insanity._

_If he didn't find a way out of here soon, he feared he would become one of the "nutters" that Magnus referred to._

__


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Magnus have a theory; Loki makes an announcement.

_“So if you look carefully,” Magnus said, gesturing to the detailed notes he had spread out all over the ground, “you do start to see a pattern emerging.”_

_”I think I see what you mean,” Tom nodded, wishing his logic skills were as finely honed as his skills with language._

_Magnus shot him a look that clearly said he knew Tom was lying but would humor him anyway._

_“It has to do with what is going on out there,” the young detective explained. “When a personality - a character as you call us - is given attention on the outside, he manifests in here. The more attention, the stronger the manifestation.”_

_”It explains why Loki would be so strung,” Tom mused. “He certainly is the role that gets the most attention. No offense to the rest of you.”_

_”It fine,” Magnus waved off his concern. “It’s not like I haven’t had time to get used to the idea. I’m just glad I haven’t gone the way of poor Edward.”_

_”Edward?” Tom mentally ran through his IMDb page._

_“See, even you can barely remember him,” Magnus said. “He was one of the first ones here, along with Oakley, William, Bill, and me. But I can’t tell you the last time I saw him.”_

_”But this doesn’t explain why Loki was able to break through when he did,” Tom bit his lower lip as he searched his memory of that morning. “Char and I certainly weren’t discussing Loki while we were... being intimate.”_

_”No need to be so delicate about it,” Magnus told him, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like we all haven’t experienced you fucking at one time or another. And you may not have been talking about Loki, but are you sure that she wasn’t thinking about him?”_

_Tom drew back, offended. Of course there had been any number of women who wanted to sleep not with him but with Loki, but he liked to think that experience had taught him to recognize the type. Char had given no indication that she would prefer to be with the God of Mischief than with him. In fact, he rather thought that she would prefer a romp with Magnus than with Loki, although he would never say that out loud to the young, arrogant detective. He had enough problems on his hands._

_”Well, the other thought I’ve had,” Magnus said, shrugging off Tom’s rebuff of his first idea, “is that perhaps you were emulating Loki. Can you think of any point during your... intimacies where your inner Loki came out?”_

_Tom’s face began to turn a deep shade of red as he recalled the experience. He had indeed been channeling his inner Loki, allowing his dominant side to come out._

_“I’ll take that as a yes,” Magnus said smugly._

_Tom had always known he was closest to Loki in the bedroom. The desire to control, to dominate his partner, particularly when said partner was as sweet as Char, was intense. It was a trait he shared with the “You were made to be ruled” god. Magnus’ theory simply confirmed his own speculation about what had allowed Loki to manifest._

_“Okay, so let’s recap,” Magnus said, “Personalities appear here based on outside events. For instance, when you did that retrospective with British woman, and were talking about his despicable behavior, Oakley was here all the time. I personally have been around more since Wallander has been streaming. Those two,” he pointed to where Adam and Hank were working on harmonies, “tend to come around during indie film festivals.”_

_”Wait a minute,” Tom was suddenly seized by a chilling thought. “Is there a chance I might cease to be here?”_

_”Certainly. All it would take is for the world to stop talking about you. If Loki decides to stop playing Hiddleston and let his true self be seen, he could wipe you out of people’s consciousness. You would cease to exist.”_

_***_

Loki smiled proudly at Charlotte as they exited the interview, draping a proprietary arm around her shoulders. The questions had come fast after his declaration of their couple status, and he had deftly confirmed that yes, she was the woman he had been mauling at the party, yes they had spent nearly every moment since then together, indeed she would be going to Comic Con with him, and moreover, she would be moving in with him when they returned to London.

It was hard to say who had been more astonished by his candor, the interviewer who had landed such a scoop, or Charlotte with whom he had never discussed the cohabitation. Well, he liked surprising her. All in all Loki thought he had handled things wonderfully. It was therefore a bit of an unpleasant surprise when Charlotte turned on him the moment they entered the green room. 

“What were you thinking?” She demanded as soon as the door slammed shut.

“That anyone thinking I would sully myself with that woman needed to be instantly corrected,” he explained haughtily. “I do have a reputation to maintain after all.”

”Reputation?” She squeaked. “You just told a room full of people and a camera crew that we have been fucking like bunnies for days!”

”You, perhaps, might be seen as a bunny,” he allowed, mildly offended, “but surely I am more of a wolf. Perhaps a lion. Definitely an alpha predator to your delicious prey.”

”Tom, this is no time for jokes!” She insisted. “You’ve just ensured that the whole social media world will be obsessing over us. We’ve done nothing to prepare! Luke is going to kill you. Also, I never said I would move in with you! You never even asked me!”

”Well, it’s not as though you’re going to say no,” he pointed out reasonably. 

“You don’t know that!” She insisted. 

“Don’t I?” He was suddenly done with the humor of the situation, stalking near to her and crowding into her space. “You are mine, and you will do as I wish. And what I wish is for you to stay with me, that I might have access to that delightful body of yours, of _mine_ , whenever the urge takes me.”

”Tom!” She protested as he backed her up against a wall and grabbed a fistful of her hair. “What are you doing?”

”Showing you how you really feel,” he smirked, running his free hand up her leg under her skirt.

”We can’t do this here! The door doesn’t lock. Anyone could walk in!”

”They could,” he agreed uncaringly. “Why should that stop us. I want you, and you want me to take you.”

”No, I don’t,” she said, gasp giving lie to her words as his fingers found her wonderfully wet center.

”Your body says otherwise, darling,” he told her smugly, playing with her as she whimpered and arched into his body. “You want me to take control. To bend you to my will. Look at how wet the very idea makes you. And just think how often I could do so were you to stay with me. I could have you continually dizzy with pleasure, in a state of constant arousal. You would be more fulfilled than you ever imagined. Doesn't that sound lovely, pet?”

Charlotte moaned as he worked her clit, mouth suddenly busy on her neck. Loki loved the way she responded to him, so needy for his touch. She could protest all she chose, but she wanted his rule and they both knew it. 

“Say the word, love,” he purred into her ear. “Tell me you want this and I will send you to the stars.”

”Yes,” she panted, openly riding his hand now. “Yes, want it. I want you.”

”And I want you to cum,” he told her. “Right now.”

As if his command had opened a flood gate within her, Char’s muscles clamped down around his fingers as spasms wracked her body. Loki claimed her mouth to quiet her scream as he pressed his long digits deep within her, glorying in the way she drenched them with her lust. 

When she had at last stilled, he slowly pulled his hand from beneath her skirt and held it before her, glistening with evidence of her desire for him. As she opened her mouth to speak he pushed his fingers into her mouth, so that she might taste her reaction to him as well. Her eyes were hazy and a little indignant, but she sucked herself off of him all the same. It did remarkable things to his already rock hard cock. He had half a mind to spin her around and fuck her against the wall, but just as he began to reach for his belt the door opened and one of their cast members stuck his head in the room.

”Um, sorry to interrupt,” the actor stuttered, clearly aware of the gist, if not the specifics, of what was going on in the room, “but Tom, your phone is blowing up! If you don’t call your publicist back, I think he’s going to have a heart attack.”

”It’s out already?” Charlotte groaned, surreptitiously straightening her clothes. 

The man just gave her a pitying look as he nodded. Loki sighed. Humans made everything so difficult. He needed to speed up his assimilation of Tom’s life; perhaps this publicist would be a way to start. The man seemed competent, if rather a killjoy. Loki would talk to him. The sooner he could live life on his own terms, the happier he would be.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki seeks a way to let his own personality break free of Tom, while Tom seeks a way to break free at all.

“Tom, mate, what hell were you thinking?” The overwrought looking man demanded in aggrieved tones.

Loki shrugged and sat on the sofa with his legs splayed, taking up an obscene amount of room in the publicist’s small office. He had deigned to pay him a visit in response to the barrage of messages left on Thomas’ phone. Really, he thought the bespectacled man could have been more appreciative. Instead he looked one step away from a nervous breakdown. 

“I was thinking it was my life and I do what I want,” he said, trying to make it as simple as possible for the obviously overwhelmed man. “Really, Luke, I don’t see what all the fuss is about.”

”What all the fuss is about?” Luke repeated, voice skirting up to a ridiculous squeak. “Tom, you just ensured that the only thing the gossip sites will be talking about for weeks, if not months, is you and Charlotte! No one will be paying the slightest attention to the movie, which was supposed to be your first big Oscar push, or to the new TV show! It will be Hiddleschar all day every day!”

”I fail to see how this is my problem,” he yawned dismissively. “After all, isn’t this what I pay you for?”

Luke reeled back as if struck, a hurt look on his face.

”Well, yes,” he admitted, “but Tom there are ways to do this sort of thing. Proven methods to acknowledge a relationship while still keeping the focus on your acting. When you just spring it on us like this, those tactics go out the window. Still, maybe we can save this. It’s not as though you haven’t been accused of romancing every costar you’ve ever had, after all. Damn charming bastard.”

Loki chose to graciously ignore the impertinence of the last muttered comment. He understood how Thomas could have worn on the nerves of those forced to interact with him on a regular basis. Norns knew he tested Loki’s patience.

“Alright, here’s how we handle this,” Luke took a deep breath and raised his head from where he had had it buried in his hands. “We say you were being sarcastic. That you were rightly irritated at having yet _another_ unconfirmed liaison added to the list and sought to belittle the interviewer by suggesting something ridiculous. I mean, it’s not as though you and the girl will _actually_ be moving in together.”

”We most certainly will be,” Loki snapped. “And you and everyone else best get used to seeing us together, because I don’t intend to let her leave my side more than absolutely necessary. I find I quite enjoy having her at my service at a moment’s notice should I feel the urge.”

”Jesus, Tom, you sound like... well to be honest, you sound like Loki.”

”Perhaps that’s because I am Loki,” he said silkily. 

“Yeah, I know, Tom” Luke sighed, having the nerve to roll his eyes, “You are all your characters and all of your characters are you.”

”No, you misunderstand. I am not Tom. I am not any of his other incarnations. I. Am. Loki.”

Luke stared at him for a moment as though his brains were running out of his ears, before suddenly bursting out into an anxious peel of nervous laughter. 

“Okay,” he said, shaking his head ruefully. “I get it. This is all some sort of prank, right? Where are the hidden cameras? Is Josh Horowitz hiding in a conference room somewhere nearby giggling? Because I really don’t have any more time for this.”

Quick as a thought Loki shot out of his chair and crossed the room to wrap his hand around Luke’s throat. The man’s eyes went wide and nearly popped out of their sockets as he squeezed ever so slightly.

”This is no joke,” Loki hissed. “I am Loki, and as of this moment, you are serving me.”

”Jesus Christ Tom!” Luke gasped. “What the Hell is wrong with you?”

”What is wrong with me is that I am surrounded by incompetence,” Loki fumed, still holding Luke pinned to his chair. “I was amused in the beginning to play at being mortal, to see what it would be like to live such a limited existence. But after a few short days slumming through what passes for life as Thomas, I find it I can no longer tolerate it. Sweet Charlotte is the only thing that gave me satisfaction, and fortunately there is nothing to keep me from still enjoying her when I am free to be myself.”

”And that would be Loki,” Luke clarified, staring up at him in terror.

”Correct.”

”Jesus mate, I knew you were exhausted, but I had no idea you were this far gone.”

With a growl Loki tightened his grip and Luke’s face began to turn purple.

”Okay,” the publicist gasped. “Okay, I get it! You’re Loki.

Loki, temporarily mollified, released him and watched as he slumped down in his seat. Pathetic. He was continually stunned that Thomas, for all his insufficiencies, seemed to actually be one of the superior humans. It didn’t bear thinking of.

”So if you’re Loki,” Luke said, rubbing his throat, “What do you want from me? Oh, sweet lord, you don’t mean to go public with all this, do you?”

“That depends,” Loki said with a smile, “on how clever of a publicist you really are. I intend to stop hiding my true nature. I have no wish to continue prancing about like an overgrown neutered puppy as Thomas does. I understand that I have significant wealth and prestige, and I insist on using it. If you can come up with a plan for me to do so that allows me to continue on with the Hiddleston identity, then so be it. If not, I will happily inform one and all as to my true personage.”

”You are going to completely switch behavior - go from Disney Prince to Chaotic Villain, and you want me to help you?”

”You forget yourself,” Loki drew himself up regally. “I am the Prince, not Hiddleston.”

”You are going to destroy your reputation, and mine in the process!” Luke protested. 

“Your reputation is tied to mine, yes?” Loki asked, stalking towards him again. 

“Yes,” Luke mumbled unhappily. 

“And if the general public were to turn on me, that would be detrimental to you, would it not?”

”Very.”

”Then it seems it would behoove you to work your hardest on my request. I would hate to have to make another 'ridiculous announcement'. You will make arrangements for a large sum of money to be made available to me.”

“That’s not under my authority!”

”Then find out who’s authority it is and have them do it. I promise you, Luke, if you do not aid me in this, I will make sure that however things fall out, it will be catastrophically bad for you and your firm.”

Not waiting for his answer, Loki turned on his heel and strode from the room. It was important, he had learned, to know when to make an exit. Just let the man stew in his fear for his reputation for a bit and he was sure to come around. With an extra spring in his step and swagger to his walk, Loki set off to dinner with Charlotte. He believed they would eat in tonight. He found she made a lovely serving dish and an even better desert.

***

  


_"Does it work from in here as well?" Tom asked, chewing on his bottom lip as he paced back and forth._

_"Does what work?" Magnus asked from where he stood, arms crossed over his chest._

_"Can we cause other personalities to materialize? In here I mean?"_

_"Huh," Magnus raked his hand through his curls, "I never thought of that. Why? Is there someone you want to talk to?"_

_"Robert Laing," Tom said._

_"Tom, no," Magnus replied, voice alarmed. "I told you, Laing's a nutter."_

_"Maybe," Tom agreed, "but he's a head doctor, isn't he? If anyone can come up with a way out of here, shouldn't it be him?"_

_"If that were true, wouldn't he have escaped himself years ago?" Magnus reasoned, trying his best to changed Tom's mind._

_"Perhaps," Tom said, deflated. "Still, what other options are there? You've been here for a decade and haven't made it out. No one has made it out besides Loki!"_

_"Would y'all quiet down over there," Hank said testily, "I'm trying to match the vampire's note!"_

_"No, I will not quiet down!" Tom shouted. "I am trying to get my life back! MY LIFE! Not Loki's! I will not remained trapped in my own brain while a character of my creation wanders around the world wearing my face! Now, I think I have taken this all pretty well up till now, but if I don't figure something out soon, I swear that I will become the nutter in this space!"_

_Into the stunned silence that followed this outburst a new, resonant voice spoke out._

_"You heard your captain friends, now gird yourselves,_  
_For fate decrees that we shall be the force,_  
_To aid in his escape and right the wrongs,_  
_The pagan God Committeth in his name._  
_So when the annals of these days are sung_  
_'Tis us who'll bear the glory and the praise._  
_So I, for one, can see no brighter course,_  
_Than this, to lend my courage to his will._  
_Say on, brave Hiddleston, what wouldst thou have_  
_Thy band of misfit souls do for thy cause?"_

_"Henry, perfect!" Tom smiled, staring at the valiant King._

_Despite the desperate, insane circumstances, it still gave Tom a thrill to think that he had brought to life one of the Bard's most noble creations. To actually see himself, or a version there of, clad in the royal armor, looking for all the world like a soldier from legend gave the inner geek in him secret joy._

_"My king, I do much thank you for thine aid," Tom improvised, unable to let the opportunity pass him by._  
_"I seek to bring the troubled doctor hither._  
_That by his knowledge we might find some way,_  
_to reunite me with my earthly form."_

 _"In sooth, good sir, it is a worthy plan._  
_How then go we forth to give it action?"_

 _"If one and all do think the healer's name," Tom said, smiling at Henry,_  
_"My thought is it might bring him to this place."_

_Henry strode over to where Hank and Adam were watching them, both with sardonic expressions. Raising his gauntlet clad hand he pointed at the two musicians and made his face stern._

_"Up on your feet, or we shall come to blows," Henry commanded._  
_"We will do all that Hiddleston suggests._  
_And let he who doth not heed his command,_  
_Contend with me and my unsheathed steel!"_

_"Alright, alright, no need to get nasty," Hank said, hastily getting to his feet._

_Adam stayed on the ground for a moment longer, glaring at Henry, but at last rolled his eyes and hauled himself up to standing._

_"Very well," he sighed, nodding his head. "If only because I don't think I can stand much more of there doggerel poetry. Lead on, mon capitan._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, I know this is getting silly, but I am having fun! Hopefully you are all as well. Thank you so much for any comments, kudos, etc. They make me heart all excited, and I love you all! <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laing has a diagnosis, Loki and Charlotte attend an event.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait. I had to scrap my entire original concept for the Loki part of this chapter because he absolutely insisted on doing his own thing. Finally, after taking time out to write a deviant Laing one shot (Her) I was able to focus and give the God what he wanted. Hope you enjoy!!!

_"You wanted to see me, sir?"_

_The man in the perfect, and perfectly unremarkable, grey suit appeared out of nowhere. Not a hair on his head was out of place. His voice was crisp and precise while managing to also be conciliatory in tone. If it were not for the glint of madness deep within his ice bright eyes he might have passed for just another anonymous drone._

_"Laing," Tom looked at one of his more difficult creations and heaved a sigh of relief. Not only had their experiment worked, but they had managed to manifest the clean shaven, pre-breakdown version of the doctor. He had been steeling himself to deal with the rotted teeth, completely feral iteration, and while that had been fun to play back during shooting he did not relish the idea of having to work with it from an outside perspective._

_"I did," Tom continued, smiling perfunctorily. "I have some questions. On the working of the brain."_

_"Of course. If you'd like to call my office..."_

_"No," Tom interrupted. "It has to be now."_

_"Very well," Laing looked vaguely annoyed. "What seems to be your problem?"_

_"I need to escape from here," he said succinctly. "I belong on the outside, not Loki."_

_"Ah, Loki," Laing looked momentarily arrested. "Now there is a specimen I would love to get a proper work-up of."_

_"Yes, well not all of us get what we want," Magnus told him, barely containing his hostility. "For instance, I would like to get you into a proper jail cell."_

_"Steady," Tom sighed, placing a hand on Magnus' shoulder. He needed Laing to cooperate, and Magnus threatening him was likely not the best way to achieve this._

_"Me?" Laing looked offended. “I’m just trying to be of assistance._

_"Magnus, we need him."_

_"Just keep him away from my dog," Magnus growled, walking to the other side of the room with a moody glower._

_"Loki has gotten out," Tom told Laing. "He has taken over my life and is barely making an effort any more not to blow it apart. Now, I need to know how to reverse this. To get him back inside and under control."_

_"That will not be an easy fix," Laing mused, tapping his lip with one finger. "Loki is a profoundly strong personality, layered with years of grief, pain, and repressed anger."_

_"Repressed?" Hank chuckled. "That man is ornerier than a rattle snake in the noonday sun."_

_"None the less," Laing said, "he is as close to a complete person as I have ever encountered within the confines of this place. Excepting you of course, Hiddleston, though not by much. And within that persona is a desperate, one might say compulsive need to be loved. The adulation that he receives from the world outside of here has made him, in many ways, as real as you are yourself. They see him, at least the more ardent of his fans, as an actual person. They all but worship him as a true being. This worship, in turn, has a circular effect. Loki is able to draw on it and reinforce the characteristics you originally imbued him with. Ego, the fore-mentioned anger, lust, intelligence. In time, more people might see this as the true personality of the body he inhabits.”_

_"In other words," Tom said with a grim chuckle, "I did too damn good a job on him."_

_”It would be easier under these circumstances if you were a bit more generic in your approach, yes.”_

_”So how do we stop him?”_

_”The only way I can see,” Laing replies after a moment of thought, “is for there to be an out crying of desire for Tom himself.”_

_***_  
  
Loki was pleased in the end with the wardrobe that arrived from the designer. A number of well fitted black pant options, tight green tops of various styles, a few leather pieces to give it a hint of Asgardian flare, and one or two sleek ties and lush scarves to set off the ensembles. The thought that these would also make exemplary bindings for Charlotte added to his satisfaction with them.

Which led to his next concern. Something was wrong with Charlotte. He could not quite put his finger on what it was, but she seemed a bit moody to him. She still smiled when he walked into the room, but there was a wariness in her eyes that had not been there before. It set him on edge, and he did not like the sensation.

”Is everything alright, pet?” He asked as he eyed up and down.

”Of course,” she said with one of her not quite real smiles as she nervously tugged at the neckline of her emerald green gown.

"You look ravishing," he assured her, meaning every word.

They had just arrived at a gala for the American Shakespeare Association, their first public outing since the announcement. Not having anything in her suitcase fitting for such a starry event, having no idea when she packed that she would be attending at his side, Charlotte had had no choice but to allow him to provide her a dress worthy of her status as his woman. It was simpler than he might have chosen, and at first he had been frustrated at her choice. When he saw it on, however, it was all he could do to keep himself from ripping it back off of her and devouring her on the spot. A tightly fitted satin bodice encased her torso, providing a tantalizing glimpse of her rounded breasts at the top. Cunning darts nipped in her waist and hugged her slim hips before flaring out just a touch towards the bottom, pooling ever so slightly on the floor. The sales woman had said it was "old Hollywood glamour." Loki thought it a dress fit for a princess and future queen. His one request had been that she opt for the green rather than black or burgundy. He could not resist showing her off in his personal colors.

"I have half a mind to tell the driver to turn around and take us home," he growled, running his hand down her bare arm.

"I wouldn't mind," she laughed anxiously. "But if you skipped a Shakespeare function the world would think I had kidnapped you."

Loki cursed inwardly. Damn Thomas and his childishly ardent fanboying. She was right, however. The man would never miss an opportunity to celebrate his favorite author. Still, he was not about to let his life be entirely dictated by another's whims. Grabbing the back of Charlotte's head, he pulled her to him and gave her a kiss that promised all the things he planned to do to her later. It started on her rosily painted lips and worked its way down the column of her neck to end nestled in her cleavage. By the time he pulled away from her, breath ragged, she was panting and glassy eyed with lust.

"One more thing, love," he told her with a lecherous grin.

"Anything," she practically moaned, arching her back a bit as he palmed her breast.

"Your underwear. Give them to me."

"What! Tom!" she squeaked.

"You heard me," he said with a leer.

"But... after that kiss... I'm... well, I'm not fit to be without them!"

"Precisely," he nodded. "I want to picture you all night, desire running down your thigh whenever you look at me. I want to know that I hold in my pocket a tiny scrap of satin soaked in your essence."

Charlotte's chest rose and fell in a heavy breath. After a long moment of silence she bit her lower lip and carefully pulled up the hem of her dress, revealing her thigh high black stockings. Loki leaned over and kissed her leg just above where the sheer material stopped. Reaching under her skirt with both hands, he managed to slide the barely existent undergarment off of her rear and down her legs, trailing his fingers over her as he went. When he had freed the item from her legs he held it up and inhaled the scent of her that had soaked the little bit of black.

"Heavenly," he purred before tucking it neatly into his inside breast pocket.

After helping her to straighten her skirt again, Loki opened the door to their limo and stepped out to the glare of a hundred flashing cameras. Reaching out his hand he helped Charlotte emerge, hearing the noise of the crowd swell as he pulled her close to his side, arm possessively encircling her waist.

"Tom! Tom over hear!" came the shouts of the photographers and reporters. "Charlotte! Charlotte! Is it true you've been having an affair this whole time? Tom, did you really break up with Mimi to date Charlotte? I hear she's pregnant, is that why you're moving so fast? Charlotte, is it true that Tom is only the latest Shakespeare star you've slept with to help your career? Our sources have you linked to Ewan McGregor and the married David Tennant. There's even rumors of a sex tape with James McAvoy! What is your response?"

Not pausing to think, Loki released his hold on Charlotte's waist and lunged at the last reporter. Singling him out from the others, Loki grabbed hold of him by the collar and lifted him off the ground so that his feet dangled. 

"You will unsay that," he snarled, his face inches away from the sniveling little toad whose face was beginning to turn a satisfying blue. "And apologize to the lady."

The cameras kept flashing, but a sudden hush fell over the assemblage as the reporter made choking sounds.

"Apologize!" Loki demanded, shaking him.

"Tom!" Charlotte's voice cut through the murderous haze in his mind. "Tom, it's alright. Put him down."

"He dishonored you," Loki growled.

"I'm okay. They're just words, and everyone who matters knows they're not true."

With another wordless snarl Loki opened his hand and let the man drop to the ground.

"This woman," he told the man sprawled at his feet, "is so far above you that you would have to leap to kiss her feet. There have been no other men, and there will be no other men. She is mine. Now, you will apologize to her and then you will never speak her name again. Do I make myself clear?"

"I... I'm sorry miss," the man managed to get out, hand feeling the bruises on his throat. 

"Accepted," Charlotte said quickly.

"Tom, what the hell?"

Loki looked over as Luke, his ridiculous press agent ran down the stairs and over to them.

"Ah, Luke," he grinned, good mood returned as he congratulated himself for a situation well handled. "There you are."

"I'm so sorry," Charlotte said softly as the pale man's face went even more ashen.

"Oh God," Luke gasped and quickly proceeded to spirit them inside while the hum of voices started up again behind them, along with the flash of cameras. "What did you do?"

"I merely educated the peasant who dared to question Charlotte's honor," he sniffed.

"You educated... oh, sweet lord!" the man's eyes were nearly jumping out of his head.

"One of the reporters asked some offensive questions," Charlotte clarified, face still mortified, "and Tom made him apologize."

"You assaulted him?" Luke's voice went comically high, causing Loki to smirk. "In front of scores of other journalists? Do you have any idea what you've just done? To your image, to your career? The press is going to eat this up! You will very likely be sued, if not arrested."

"I did what needed to be done," he shrugged, looking back and forth between the two of them. Both his woman and his servant seemed unaccountably aghast at his actions, but for the life of him he didn't see why. He hadn't even hurt the man much. Just some bruises and a wounded ego. For the accusations he had made about Charlotte he deserved to be whipped within an inch of his life. Loki would never get used to the softness of this backwards realm.

Grabbing his arm Luke pulled him aside and glanced around warily.

"Is this about... what we talked about in my office?" he asked skittishly.

"And what would that be?" Loki toyed with him.

"About you being Loki," Luke looked embarrassed to even speak the words, face flushing crimson.

"I suppose in a way," Loki shrugged. "After all, a prince cannot allow a commoner to so address his lady."

"Then it wasn't just some freakish prank you were pull on me," the man sounded truly miserable.

"I told you it was not. I am Loki. Of Asgard. And you will do well to remember that. Now, I suggest you use what skills you have to clean up the situation. After all, that is your job."

Loki turned to Charlotte who was looking at him strangely. Plastering his toothiest Hiddleston smile, he held out his arm and watched her slowly walk over and place her hand on it.

"My apologies for the scene, my love," he smiled at her. "I promise, the night will only get better from here."

"It would have to," she said with a shaky laugh.

Smirking at Luke as the man walked back to deal with the mess Loki had made, he escorted Charlotte into the ball room. It felt good to be himself, even if no one else realized the truth. Yet.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte and Loki spend a quiet night in. Is there trouble brewing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been absent for a bit. Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this and patiently waited!

"You're not dressed," Loki stated the obvious as he entered Charlotte's room without knocking.

They had planned to attend a premiere of some movie or other that one of Thomas' former costars was involved in. The one who had attempted to imitate the second rate Midgardian wizard he believed, though he had not quite managed the combination of ineptitude and smugness of the source material. It had been suggested by the officious publicity agent as an effort to smooth over the todo caused by Loki's, in his own opinion, perfectly correct handling of the incident with the irksome reporter the night before. He had agreed to quiet the nattering mortal's anxiety. Loki needed to keep the man functioning, at least until he had facilitated the requested funds.

But as Loki arrived to fetch Charlotte, it was to find her sitting on her hotel bed in a shapeless t-shirt and oversized fleece pants. Comfortable, he supposed, but hardly fit attire for the companion of a God. Her face, normally so active and alive, was drawn looking with dark smudges under her eyes and lines of tension around her mouth.

"I'm afraid I'm not feeling up to another evening out," she told him quietly, guilt clear in her eyes. "Do you mind terribly if I skip the movie?"

"Darling," Loki said, crossing quickly to where she sat, "are you unwell?"

He forgot at times how delicate mortal bodies could be. It was absurd really, how easily they fell ill or were otherwise damaged. The thought that his lovely Charlotte could have something wrong with her, particularly when he lacked his powers to aid in her recovery, was alarming.

"I'm fine, Tom," she smiled weakly at him. "Just tired. I think I just need a night in."

"Of course," he said at once, sitting next to her and bringing her hand to his lips. "I will let Luke know that we are not to be in attendance. But, love, you are certain you are not feeling ill? I could arrange for a doctor to attend to you."

"I'm sure," she nodded. "We've just been out a lot the past week, and I'm the type who needs quiet time. I know I don't always seem like it, but I am an introvert at heart."

"I quiet understand," he nodded, meaning it. "I myself require time away from most others. It is draining, is it not, to have to put up with the frustrations of dealing with... people."

"It is," she laughed. "I'm glad you aren't upset. You can still go if you want to. I know you enjoy Ben's movies."

"On the contrary," he purred, placing a kiss on the side of her neck. "I can think of something else I enjoy even more."

"Tom," she sighed, moving away from him.

"Yes pet?" he asked, reaching out to caress her breast.

"Can we... not."

"Not?" he echoed, his hand going up under her shirt to allow him direct access to her soft skin. She moaned in response and leaned into him for a moment, closing her eyes, but then stiffened her muscles and seemed to draw into herself.

"Not," she repeated, though sounding less sure.

"You don't like it when I touch you?" he asked, brushing his thumb over her hard nipple. "Your body seems to say otherwise."

"Of course I like it," she sighed, hips moving of their own accord as he toyed with her. "That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?" his other hand was on her thigh, moving steadily upward.

"We've just been having a lot of sex lately," she told him breathily.

"And that is a problem?" he asked, playing with the waist band of her sweat pants.

"No... yes!" she fought to open her eyes and brought her hand down to still his invasion of her lower region.

"I thought you liked what I did to you," he said.

"I do," she groaned, bighting her lower lip as he tweaked her nipple hard. "You know I do. God, sometimes I think you could get me to do anything just by touching me the way you do."

"Hm... an interesting theory," he grinned. "Shall we test it? There are all sorts of things I could think of to ask..."

"No, Tom!" she broke away and stood up from the bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked, legitimately confused. If she was not ill, why was she pulling away from him?

"I am putting some distance between us so that I can think straight," she said, determination in her voice. "It is something I am apparently incapable of doing too close to you."

"Charlotte, what is wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," she insisted, sitting at the small desk. "It's just that... well, we have been doing nothing but have sex since we..."

"Had sex?" he supplied as she seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Exactly!"

"And you don't enjoy that?"

"I just told you that I do! I have never had a lover who even comes close to making me feel the way you do. Every time I think it can't get better, and then the next time it does!"

"Then I don't understand the problem."

"The problem is that I am sore!" she blurted out. "I am tired. And I miss the other parts of our friendship."

"What other parts," he asked carefully.

"Us," she said, flapping her hands in the air. "You know, simply enjoying each other's company. Doing crossword puzzles, reading, playing games. I love you, and heaven knows I love sex with you, but I am a mortal woman, Tom. I have to let my body rest sometimes!"

Loki stared at her, feeling a slight bit chagrined. He had thought it earlier, mortals were absurdly quick to tire, and he certainly didn't want to injure his darling Charlotte.

"I am sorry if I have used you too harshly," he told her contritely. "It was not my intention."

"I know," she smiled at him. "And I am not complaining. Believe me, most of the women in the world would kill for a chance to be worn out by you! But for tonight, can we just cuddle and do something quieter?"

"I do enjoy reading," he said, with just the barest hint of a sigh.

It was true, of course. He had always liked to read. It was just that he had been able to do that in the cell of Thomas' mind. Since he had been outside he had been ravenously enjoying the perks that came with freedom, foremost among them access to her intensely fuckable body, but he had not realized he was over working his poor woman. 

"Here you go," she smiled, handing him what looked like a small computer interface. "I have a whole library saved on my kindle. Feel free to browse until you find something you like."

"Many thanks," he nodded. "Might I convince you to join me on the bed? I promise to behave myself."

"Of course."

Her good mood evidently restored, Charlotte plopped down on the bed next to him, picking up the newspaper that she had been holding when he arrived and the red pen laying next to it. Loki quickly mastered the controls of her reading device and flipped through the promised wide assortment of books she had downloaded on it, trying to decide what to read. It was cozy, he had to admit, being so domestic with her. Finally settling on an interesting selection he began to loose himself in the story as she focused on her puzzle.

"Oh! Here's one for you," she said to him suddenly after a considerable chunk of time had passed. 

"One what," he asked absently, mind on which of the four houses the ridiculous hat would have sorted those he knew into. Thor would obviously be Gryffindor, the brash idiot. And his servant Luke was Hufflepuff through and through. Loki, of course was Slytherine. He was not, however, entirely sure on Charlotte. It bothered him.

"Twenty six down - 'Saint's Day Celebrated on October 25'."

Loki glanced over at her expectant smile. He quickly scanned his memory, but he didn't know why she would expect him, or more to the point Thomas, to know this. As far as he knew, the man had only set foot in mortal churches for wedding or funerals.

"I'm afraid I must disappoint you, pet," he shrugged, going back to his book. "I never have been very religious."

For a moment there was no response, but Loki could once more feel the muscles in Charlotte's body tense.

"St. Crispin," she said, a strange tone in her voice.

"If you say so, love," he smiled, wondering why she was looking at him so strangely. "Now hush, I want to see what house Hermione ends up in. I am hoping for Slytherine. She deserves better than those two pathetic boys destined to be sorted into Gryffindor."

***

_"There!" Tom shouted, pumping his fist into the air. "Did you see that?"_

_"See what?" Laing asked, head tilted to one side._

_"That's my girl!" Tom was grinning like an idiot. "She knows!"_

_"I don't know if I'd go as far as that," the confident voice of James Conrad said from the other side of him, "but she definitely looks as though she suspects."_

_Tom glanced over at the muscled tracker and nodded in greeting. It was strange, but he was beginning to grow accustomed to the way various incarnations of himself came and went around here. Perhaps that should concern him, but for the moment he was too excited by Loki's slip up to care._

_"How comes it then he knows not of that day?" Henry asked disdainfully._   
_"Saint Crispin's Day was not to be forgot,_   
_For on that morn we shed such seas of blood,_   
_From veins of those of France who barred our claim_   
_That all who dwell in this our native land_   
_Should ever more still sing of our great deed!"_

_"Oh truly, Sire, it was a valiant feat," Tom told the King with a grin._   
_"And all of England doth revere it still._   
_But Loki haileth not from this our realm,_   
_He is from far off stars and knoweth not,_   
_Of our brave history and battles fought."_

_"Oh for god's sake, Hiddleston," Magnus sighed. "It's bad enough to speak in verse, must you make it rhyme? And a sloppy rhyme at that."_

_"He's not wrong though," Conrad mused. "Charlotte does seem to be on to Loki."_

_"She misses me," Tom said hopefully. "Loki might do... certain things well, but he is not me!"_

_"You mean he screws her brains out," Oakley laughed._

_Wonderful, the idiot boy was back._

_"How do we use that to our advantage?" mused Conrad._

_"Well," Laing began to pace as he thought, "if she concentrates hard enough on Tom, maybe he can use that energy to push his way back out."_

_"We can only hope that Loki continues to make mistakes," Conrad agreed._

_"Best be careful what you wish for," Laing cautioned._

_"What do you mean?" Tom asked._

_"Well, it's a fine balance," Laing told him. "If Charlotte realizes it's not you, she might miss you it's true. But she might also leave all together."_

_"At least then he couldn't hurt her any more," Tom replied, feeling a bit deflated._

_"Possibly, assuming he lets her go," Conrad said, raising a new sense of panic within Tom._

_"What do we do then?" he asked, biting his lower lip._

_"We do nothing," Laing shook his head. "It's up to the girl now."_


End file.
